Brothers
by Dikey
Summary: Keeping secrets for too long comes with an high price. SeeD are not the only human weapons in the world. Others can be just as deadly but more ambitious...and less subtle. This is the translation of a story I originally wrote in Italian.
1. The Night in Balamb

Hi! I wrote this story years ago and uploaded it a couple of Italian website where it was quite liked. This is the translation I made. It's not exactly the same as the original, however, because I used this opportunity to fix a couple of mistakes I made.

Let me know if you liked it!

* * *

Irvine was still trying to dodge the various pieces of flavored bread that Zell kept throwing at him when his attention was caught by a jumping Selphie pointing her finger towards the balcony.

"There! Look over there!" she said in a very high pitched voice, still pointing the balcony

Irvine aimed the camera at Rinoa. She wasn't alone, she was with Squall! And Squall closed the distance between them, took her in his arms...and everything went black. The battery was dead.

"NO!" sighted the cowboy, perhaps a bit too loudly "Not now!"

That goddamned camera filmed nothing but jack and giggles for three whole hours ("Thank you Selphie, my dear") and it had to stop now of all times? Selphie asked him what happened and Irvine just told her, shaking the camera in the process

"No! That's too bad! They were so cuuuuteee!"

That _cuuuuteeee_ was so high in the ultrasound range that only bats were actually able to hear it; still, Irvine felt something like a nail struck in his ear. He then turned towards the hall yelling

"A camera! My Kingdom for a camera!"

"What do you need it for?"

It was Zell, called by Selphie's antics. Or maybe by the smell of the small mountain of flavored bread in a table nearby. Irvine grabbed him by the head and turned it so that the blonde Seed could see the balcony

"What the he...oh boy! I can't believe it...Squall?"

"Yes!" Yelled Selphie in return "You don't happen to have a camera, do you?"

"No...but I think Quistis does. Wait here, I'll look for her"

"Yeah, but hurry up you chicken-wuss! Those two won't be going at it for much longer! Though, I must say I'm impressed: never thought Squall had it in him. My man! And, I must say, they really know how to use their... OUCH!"

Selphie elbow graciously met Irvine's stomach

"I was just being _professional_!"

"Professional? And what would that mean?"

Selphie's voice going from Ultrasound to Contralto was never a good sign.

"Eh...oh...I mean...you know...look! Quistis is here! Hi Quis!"

She was with Zell and at least half a dozen other students who wanted to know why those newly crowned heroes were making all that noise. Quistis crossed her arm, looking at him like a teacher would look at a student caught cheating

"Why do you need my camera?"

Irvine did not replied. He just pointed his thumb towards the balcony, now behind him. Suddenly, the air around him got cold, freezing cold. He could see that everyone around quietly moved out of the way, opting for a strategic retreat. Irvine took a deep breath, put his best smile on his face and turned around

"Hello Squall! How's going? Having fun?"

Squall's eyes froze him in place and for a second, he felt that his blood stopped flowing. He started wandering if Squall was the kind of person who would hit a friend with the pointy edge of a Gunblade...and if he had said gunblade on his person right now.

"Why do you need a camera?" Squall asked

Zell disappeared into the crowd. Selphie decided that she had one "very-very-very important" thing she needed to tell to Edea ASAP. Quistis just left. One friendly face left with him: Rinoa, who looked both embarrassed and amused. And who clearly had no intention to actually help him.

"Why do you need a camera?" Squall asked again and this time Irvine heard a not-so-subtle death threat in his friend's voice.

"Well...the one I have is dead. And there's still so much to film! So many memories to freeze in time! The party is still going."

"The party is in the ballroom – Squall replied, with his voice several degrees below zero – not the balcony."

Irvine started a silent prayer to Hyne, hoping that Squall had forgot his gunblade in his room.

"Well, you are right. But the balcony is still part of the ballroom..."

"Kinneas! Irvine Kinneas!" the gods listened to him and sent Cid to help him

"Nice conversation. Too bad Cid called me. Sorry I have to go but he called me. So, se ya around, eh?"

It was Selphie the one who asked Cid for help and, after laughing at Irvine sweating bullets, he complied helping the cowboy escape the righteous wrath of the Commander at the price of a thirty-minutes long sermon about the meaning of the words "discretion" and "privacy".

However, given the alternative, Irvine was quite happy to listen.

* * *

("So...I did it")

He took her hands, moved his arms around her waist and then...

("I did not think about it. I just did it")

For a second, a terrible, horrible second, he thought that Rinoa would push him back or refuse him. And then, everything disappeared with the rest of the world leaving only the Sorceress and her knight in a moment of bliss.

Of course, the rest of the world felt the need to let the young couple know of its existence with the sound of happy voices and laughters.

("No...")

Squall turned to the ballroom, where Irvine was desperately looking for a camera and Selphie kept pointing at them. Rinoa understood what must have happened and hid her face with her hands.

("Why, Irvine?")

("a moment, just a moment...couldn't you leave me alone? Just turn around? Pretend you saw nothing?")

("It's really that big of deal? So much that the whole Garden had to know?")

Before he realized it, Squall was already walking towards the group. As soon as he approached, the group disbanded: a clear sign of a guilty conscience. Ten minutes later, he was sitting on the bed in Rinoa's room still angry about it.

He was sitting with the back bend forwards, wondering why they've done that to him. After all, when Irvine and Selphie were engaging in questionable activities he never said anything, let alone trying to film them. Couldn't they just do the same?

Rinoa sat on his right and grabbed his arm

"Hey, still mad at them?"

("No, I just want to kill Irvine. Slowly, if possible")

"You know him...and I must say, it doesn't happen very often. To see you smile, I mean. I think taking a picture of a smiling Squall is a risk worth death."

("...")

"..."

Rinoa burst out laughing at Squall's embarrassed face. The young man devoted all of his attention to the tiles on the floor, apparently the only thing around him that do not find his embarrassment amusing.

"You know, I'm mad at Irvine too"

("Doesn't look like that")

"It's true. I really am!"

Since Squall kept looking at the tiles, Rinoa stood up, moved two steps back and then jumped on him, knocking the man on the bed

"We've been interrupted."

* * *

The sound of steel clashing echoed throughout the night. Seifer was already fighting from several minutes there, just before the fire cavern, a place that meant a lot for him. That was the place where everything started: with a duel and scar, the gift they exchanged. Then it was Dollet, Galbadia and the Sorceress...everything. And it was already like a dream.

He liked the fire Cavern, it gave him a pleasant, warm feeling. Usually, Seifer would come there early in the morning or during night. Fujin and Rajin would, of course, be with him but just as guards. Not that he needed guards. Nobody has gone to the Fire Cavern since Ifrit was defeated.

That night was different.

There were three of them, clouded behind black Galbadian-like uniform. He only became aware of them when Fujin screamed. He drew the Hyperion and readied himself for the fight. In front of him stood a single man wearing two swords shining in the moonlight.

Seifer had never fought against such a foe. His opponent was at least at Squall's level, but had something Squall never had: the will to kill him.

Every move, every attack Seifer made was blocked or pushed aside with one sword and the other blade would always come to counterattack right after the parry.

However, Seifer was the one on the offensive and was keeping his skilled opponent at bay with a series of long slashes to force him to keep his distance. Then, the man countered.

Right, Left, look out for the shoulder, cover your vitals.

The sudden flurry took Seifer by surprise. Then, a feint, a sword just a couple of inches away from Seifer's nose and he had to step back, only to get hit in jaw by a powerful spinning kick.

Seifer fell on the ground and felt the familiar taste of blood in his mouth. He cleaned the blood that flowed from his mouth with the back of his hand and smiled.

That was an opponent worthy of him. That was a magnificent fight.

His opponent lunged his twin swords against him, but the Hyperion blocked them both before they could strike his head. Seifer felt his hand burning and aimed the fire spell at his opponent's legs.

A spell like that would not kill such a man. But it would create an opening.

It was is turn now: Seifer spun the Hyperior creating a green aura, gathering energy for the next blow. The very technique that almost killed Squall.

"No _almost_ this time."

The gunblade moved, to fast for the eye to see.

And he was blocked. That man acted like he just dealt with a newbie, someone who just took the Gunblade for the first time, blocking the powerful strike with ease. Then, he dashed forward and his blade slashed to Seifer's coat, wounding his left arm.

"tis but a scratch."

Seifer clenched his teeth and attacked. Pushing the trigger, the blows of his gunblade became a lot stronger but his opponent ducked to avoid the deadly attack that would have slashed him in half and countered once again, with a thrust. The blade tasted the flesh of Seifer's leg and retreated immediately after that.

Seifer called himself stupid. He forgot the one advantage the sword has over the gunblade: the sword can thrust, the gunblade can't. The wound was not deep but was bothersome and compromised his stance. Seifer was forced to keep his ground against an opponent with far better mobility than him. He resisted, but not for long. That man used both his swords and this time he plunged them in his shoulder.

"Can you do nothing but scratch me and ruin my coat?"

The man did not answer, his face hidden behind the mask he was wearing. Seifer understood that he could not stay still nor moved the way he wounded. Once again he clenched his teeth and attacked. Upward strike, downward strike, flurry.

That man was fighting defensively, unable to counter. It was only a matter of time until...but Seifer fell on his knees, unable to lift the Hyperion anymore...and he got hit by another roundhouse kick, this time on his face. Seifer was once again on the ground. He finally understood that those strike were not scratches, near-miss or lucky hits. No, every strike went exactly the way his opponent intended. And Seifer, the fool, kept moving, kept fighting, pushing himself to the limits so that he could bleed out faster.

That man wanted him alive.

Seifer tried a weak attack when the man approached but a kick sent his weapon flying and then he felt the foot of the man on his throat.

"Stay still, Sorceress' Knight."

He made a gesture and another man in black came close

"All the blood on the ground is contaminated, I have to take a sample from a source."

The feeling of a needle in the neck and the former knight almost fainted...he saw the sword pointing on his forehead, touching his scar...rising...and falling in a flash of steel and red.

"Good. That's a perfect sample. We are done, here."

That was the first time he heard the voice of one of them, but he could not tell whose voice it was, and the sound of steps going away from him. And he tired, to tired. The night was silent again.

No.

The night was not silent yet.

There was a noise, unknown and unpleasant, a sound Seifer had never heard before...and it come from Fujin...Fujin was crying. FUJIN WAS CRYING? That was not possible! Fujin would never cry...he had to see, he had to check. He grabbed his weapon to use it a walking stick...he had to see, that simply was not possible. Every single move was heavy and painful, but he had no time for pain. Not now. He used every last bit of what was left of his strength to move.

And, when he saw what was in front of him, he fell on knees on more time.

Rajin was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, hardly breathing, his eyes moving restlessly. And Fujin was crying while she was holding her friend with all the strength she had in her body, to hold him and not let him go.

"Fujin...what?" Seifer was too weak to ask anything more. He never felt so powerless.

"RAJIN. WOUNDED. SPEAR. STOMACH."

For a moment, he hated Fujin and that weird speech pattern of hers. He wanted to hit her, slap her and tell her to talk as a normal human would. But he saw that she was covered in blood. Rajin's blood. Rajin's eyes met Seifer's just as the bulky man's breathing was becoming more and more unstable.

"Fujin, are you wounded?" - she said she wasn't – "Then Run! Run to Balamb! Run to the Garden! Run to wherever the hell you want! Just..."

That was an hard word to say.

"Just call for help. Run, Fujin!"

Fujin stood up and started running but then she came back asking "MONSTERS?"

"If anything pops out, I'll fry it to ashes. Now run!"

Seifer had nothing he could do. Nothing but to way and hope that someone would came to save Rajin. He tried to summon a cure spell, but the wound was too deep for it to be effective.

He saw his dreams break, time after time. He swallowed the bitter pill and moved forward. But they were his friends. They always stood at his side. Always.

He could not accept that one of them would...he simply couldn't.

"You'd better stay alive. Don't let the girl run for nothing, do you hear me?"

Seifer forced himself to look into his friend's eyes because he didn't want to look at his wound. He wanted to think that he could make it.

Meanwhile, the sun was rising.


	2. A storm on the horizon

Squall woke up early that morning, thanks to his alarm clock playing Julia Heartilly's famous breakthrough song "Eyes on Me". He turn it off as he used to, with his eyes closed and waving his hand blindly until the accursed thing stopped its alarm.

("Wait a minute")

His alarm clock would ring, it would not play a song.. Much less something like Eyes on Me. He opened his eyes and looked around him and there were a lot of pictures: Rinoa with Angelo, Rinoa with Quistis and Selphie, Rinoa doing the Heimlich manouvre to a Zell almost killed by a sandwitch, Rinoa with him at the orphanage and a group picture with everyone wearing their Seed Uniform at a party in Esthar after the defeat of Ultimicia. Definitely, that was not his room. Oh, there were pictures in his room too, thanks to Selphie (a well-known black haired moron had the brilliant idea to give her professional photographer's stuff as a gift) but those picture were not as happy: Squall looking at the tiles, Squall analizing the furniture, Squall in the infirmary after the Time Compression and about a dozen pictures of him and Rinoa.

How on earth that hyperactive girl managed to get so many pictures of him was a mistery.

Squall did the math and reached the brilliant conclusion that the room he was in wasn't his. It was Rinoa's. Everything came back to his mind.

("Hyne...was it a dream?")

He looked at his right. Rinoa was there, covered in white blankets. She was smiling while sleeping with her head on his shoulder. She was so beautiful.

("So...it wasn't a dream.")

Was he happy? Or Worried? Perhaps both.

("What is the procol, by the way?")

("Do I wake her up? Do I wait for her to wake up? Should I kiss her? Before or after she wakes up?")

However, getting out of there was the top priority. He was not afraid of being demoted, much less expelled ( with all those girls and boys running around with their hormons hardly kept in check he was sure that they weren't the fist couple who used a bed for things other than sleeping) but the did not wanted to become the main topic of conversation of the day. For Rinoa and for his own peace of mind.

So, he stood up and started to get dressed, as quietly as possible.

...

Only to tumble on Angelo's chewing toy and wake her up.

"Ehi...what time is it?"

Squall looked at the clock pointing half past six. No need to rush her. He sat beside her and moved his hand through her hair and face in what was supposed to be a romantic caress.

("Now, I should...")

It was not easy, but he managed to give her a kiss on the cheek. The bright light of day had destroyed the confidence of the night. He just realized that he had no idea about what to do and, since his only option was to ask Irvine for advice, he hoped that Rinoa would be patient with him. He gave his girlfriend one last look and left.

("that's weird.")

Thinking of her as his girlfriend. That was new. He closed the door as quietly as possible...only to discover that Irvine and Selphie were about to knock.

Irvine was nodding proudly at him while Selphie looked at him, then the room, then him again. She started jumping and squeeking as only she was able to do.

"Did you...?"

Unintelligible sounds followed. Angelo, the poor dog, howled in pain.

"Finally! It's official! I'm _so_ happy for you guys!" – she started running in the opposite direction – "I have to tell the band the good news!"

("Perfect.")

"Don't think so bad of her" – said Irvine – "She's not going to say _how_ you guys spent the night. Although, those who just saw you coming out of Rinoa's room will likely have some very specific ideas about your activities."

Irvine touched his hat while winking. Squall just noticed that there were a lot of people around and felt the beginning of a big headache. With his hand on his forehead, he asked

"Why are there so many people around here at 06:30? Classes start late today, the wake up call won't be before 07:30"

"Whoa...you really gave your all, didn't you?"

("I guess he'll survive a flare spell")

Probably Irvine read his mind because he said "you're tired. Very tired. So tired that your brain is one hour behind. It is almost a quarter to eight, that's why me and Selphie went here. I think that Zell is probably knocking at your door right now."

Squall recalled Selphie asking to go to Trabia right after Esthar. And then they moved to Balamb. They went through three different timezones in 3 days. Trabia's timezone was one hour behind Balamb...

("Rinoa forgot to adjust the clock")

Squall crossed his arms and started his favorite hobby: looking intensely at the floor.

"...great. In twenty minutes the news will reach Esthar."

"Hey, it's Selphie you're talking about: I already told you, don't think so low of her. 10 minutes tops."

Squall decided to gave up. Overthinking it will only hurt him. He decided to go to his room with Irvine where, as the cowboy had predicted, they found Zell trying to knock down the door.

"Easy on the door, chicken wuss. I found our guy. Or should I say _our man_?"

"Don't call me like that" – Said the blond SeeD while taking a fighting stance – "And where were you?"

Squall ignored the question and Irvine did the same. Zell kept asking until they reached their table at the cafeteria, where food became all he cared about. Selphie and Quistis were already waiting for them. The younger girl was still in full " _Genki_ " mode but Quistis looked stiff.

"Selphie told me where you spent the night"

"What? Where?" asked Zell, the only living being in the Garden who was not aware of it.

("Why? Isn't that mine and Rinoa's business?")

Squall was about to reply when the loudspeaker yelled

"Commander Leonhart, infirmary. I repeat, Commander Leonhart, infirmary. Squall, there's something you have to see...run."

Nida's voice was alarmed, scared. They all left the table together. Whatever happened was more important then gossiping about the newly formed couple. They made a stop to Squall's room, allowing him to pick up his weapon and ammo. Holding that blue blade in his hands always gave Squall a feeling of strenght and security. Plus, as a SeeD, he was supposed to have a weapon on him all the time except at diplomatic events.

Kadowaki opened the door and let the group in without a single word. Squall saw that both Cid and Edea were there. But that wasn't what worried him. It was the presence of a blonde, heavily sedated, bendaged man lying on the bed. His wasn't a peaceful sleep: he was handcuffed to the bed and apparently he moved around enough to open his wounds once again. The staff was still cleaning the blood.

Cid took Squall by the arm, separating him from the rest of the group

"They were attacked"

("They? That means...")

"Rajin and Fujin, yes. Fujin has been treated, mostly flesh wounds and she came here in shock" – the man scratched the back of his head – "She is not the talkative type, but she just said something like RAJIN-WOUNDED-SPEAR-HELP. I think she was _confused_ but, as you know, that spell leaves no trace behind once the effect is gone. When we found them they were both unconscious and there were signs of a fight."

("I'm not surprised. Seifer made himself a lot of enemies.")

Squall tried to do a quick count: anyone in Trabia, Balamb or Esthar would be more than happy to kill Seifer. Even a lot of Galbadians wouldn't say no to such an opportunity. The last war brought war and destruction all over the war and, with Ultimecia dead, Seifer was the scapegoat. The only reasons he lived in Balamb was because he was officially under the protection of the Garden.

"Seifer lost a lot of blood. We sent our experts and we analized the scene; they fought right in front of the Fire Cavern. I wish I could tell you more, but there isn't even a single drop of blood that doesn't belong to Seifer, Fujin...or Rajin."

Cid lowered his head and Squall realized the meaning of that.

"How?"

Cid cleared his throat "We don't know. A spear, maybe."

A spear? In this time and age the spear was known as a weapon easy to use but difficult to master and there weren't many specialist of it. In the hands of a master it was indeed a terrible weapon, with a better range than swords and gunblades as well as more piercing power, being able to break through a protect shield when imbued with magic. But if you don't want to get close to your enemy you can just take a gun.

It looked like Cid had more to say: the man moved his mouth, but no sound came out of it. In the end he shook his head

"Talk to Seifer when he wakes up" – he said – "Don't tell him about Rajin. Not now. Try to figure out who defeated him. A man who's able to do it so easily is a threat to us all."

Squall nodded and Cid put his hand on the young man's shoulder. After a while, only Squall and Dr. Kadowaki were left, with the latter writing a report. When she finished, Squall asked to see it. She complied to the commanders order.

It was about Rajin.

 _Rajin FNU (Family Name Unknown), age 19. Arrival at 06:32, Blue Code. 15 Wounds on upper chest. Upper body tendons were cut._

("He wasn't able to fight anymore. Why did they..?")

 _Piercing wounds to the abdomen. Treatment: Chirurgy with Tier-3 paramagic support._

What followed was a detailed recap of the operation. The last line was the most important.

 _Time of Death: 6:40_

Squall looked over Seifer and Fujin and saw a third bed in the next room whose blanket completely covered what was on it. But the blanket was way too small for the man he covered and two big, dark skinned feet were visible. Dr. Kadowaki noticed it and closed the door. Squall took offense to that. That was not the first dead body he saw. How many people did he killed, just in the last war? Wasn't he a trained SeeD? He was raised to be a human weapon and he knew how to deal with death far too well.

He tried to ask the doctor why she did that, but she just pointed at Seifer, who was slowing waking up.

* * *

Cid and Edea called the rest of the team in Cid's office. They told them what happened and each of them reacted in his on way. Selphie sobbed and hid her face in Irvine's coat while the Cowboy just removed his hat. Quistis said nothing, lost in the memories of a couple of years ago when Rajin was one of her students. Rinoa wasn't there. Only Zell spoke out loud.

"The guy was as asshole but of the good kind. I mean...he attacked Balamb...he did a lot of bad stuff...but he was one of us. He freed Ellone, ya know?"

Cid smiled sadly when Zell ended his speech with "ya know", something Rajin used to do. But then, he made a serious expression, something they never saw on his face.

"Whoever did that knew exactly what he was doing. And so did the others. Seifer, Rajin and Fujin are experienced fighters and yet it looks like they never stood a chance."

"Seifer never stood a chance? I can't believe it" – yelled Zell with his eyes wide open – "I hate his guts, but he's good with his weapon, the best after Squall, and we would need to send a team of mid to high level SeeDs to knock him down!"

"Not exactly. You just need a sniper."

Cid sighted and showed him a document.

"That's Xu's report. No bullets were found. Not that a bullet would match with the wounds anyway. Three aggressors, maybe four, all melee fighters."

"I'll be damned. They have to be damn good!"

Selphie's eyes were shooting daggers at Zell, who quickly pointed out that it wasn't his intention to pay them a compliment. Still, they were a force to be reckoned with and belittling them wouldn't do any good.

Edea rose from the chair she was sitting on and moved behind Cid. She put her hands on Cid's shoulder and her husband took a deep breath.

"My children, there's something you need to know..."

"er...Ma'am, sorry to interrupt"

Nida was standing still outside the office and only came in when Cid told him to.

"Sir, someone just entered the Garden from the garage..."

That was hardly a news. When the Garden was on land people would go in and out of the garage at all times.

"Sir, a Class-A code was used, for direct access to the lower levels."

That was another story. The people with such a code could be counted on one hand. Squall, being the commander, Xu, another pair or A-ranked SeeD and of course...

"Whose code?"

Cid clenched his teeth, as if he was expecting a punch to come. From the tone of his question it was clear that he already knew the answer.

"yours, sir."

"Multiple inputs?"

"Manual, sir. No evidence of hacking. They just pressed on the right buttons in the right order."

"Thank you, Nida. Please, announce Code Yellow to the SeeD personal. Try to keep the noise to a minimum, avoid the loudspeaker. Xu and Quistis, I believe it's your duty to take the students to the shelters. Zell and Selphie, can I trust the lower levels to you? And Irvine, I know I have no authority over you, but would you be so kind to go get Squall ASAP?

Everyone, dismissed."

Cid and Edea watched as their young foster kids moved to their locations. Once they were out of sight, Cid went to the his desk and opened a compartment only he had access to.

"Dear, you are not going to..."

Cid took something from the desk with his left hand. With his right, he took Edea's left hand and kissed it as a nobleman would.

"It's a Knight's Duty to protect his loved Sorceress. Do not fear...I still know how to use it. Please, stay safe.

I'm going to the ground floor."

* * *

 **Author's Note** : well, here's chapter two. If you liked it, please leave a word of comment.


	3. Of Blood and Knights

Seifer woke up slowly...and did nothing to hide how unpleasant it was for him to see Squall's face.

"I guess I really was dying if the great commander, Squall Leonhart himself has blessed me with his gracious presence." He said with a grin

("he's fine")

"Tell me what happened, Seifer."

"Uh, that's so mean of you, Squall! Don't you see I'm wounded? Don't you have a tiny bit of pity in you?"

("Enough with the jokes")

"Seifer, this is no joke..."

The blonde man burst out screaming, covering his face so that Squall could not see how frustrated he was

"I know damn well this is no joke! I'm here, in this goddamned Garden in the presence of the last man on earth I would want to see, wounded and bloodied, with a lot of needles stuck into my arms pumping in some moron's blood!"

Seifer said nothing else for a while and Squall did not reply. Oh, part of him _really_ wanted to tell Seifer that the brought that on himself and that still wasn't enough of a punishment. He wanted to yell that the moron whose blood was being used was probably one of those who lost a friend or two in the attack against the Garden that Seifer lead. Magically manipulated or not, the undeniable truth is plain and simple: Seifer didn't pay for his mistakes.

Squall realized that Seifer was right. He didn't have an ounce of pity for him.

However, Squall was the Commander. He was supposed to stay composed. He was ordered to talk with Seifer, not to antagonize him. So, he pretended to be a good listener. Basically, Squall pretended to be Rinoa.

"Seifer, can you tell me what happened? Who hurt you?"

"Please Squall, that's a bad imitation of Rinoa. Just be yourself, your cynicism and all."

Of course, Seifer saw through the charade.

("I tried to be considerate. That's enough.")

"Tell me what happened. In detail. Now."

"Now, that's more like it. But I will answer yours after you'll answer mine."

Squall sighed but nodded. At that point he just wanted to get on with it.

"Where's Fujin?"

That was easy. With a movement of his head, Squall pointed the bed where the girl was sleeping in. Seifer lifted his torso up to have a better view and looked relieved.

"Rajin?"

That was the hard one. Against Cid's will, Squall decided to tell Seifer the truth. After all, the man would have likely seen through his lies anyway.

"The wound was too deep, the blood loss too severe. They could not save him."

He wanted to add "I'm sorry" but was he, really? Rajin was a better man than Seifer but still a willing accessory to Seifer's crime. The "just following orders" excuse would not be valid in Rajin's case, since he was a Garden's Cadet and Seifer had no recognized authority over him.

Lost in his thoughts, Squall didn't notice that, for the first time in his life, Seifer was feeling guilty.

"They were wearing a black and silver uniform. Very Galbadian looking, but with a full mask instead of an helmet and SeeD's shoulder guards. He played with me until I was no longer able to stand. The bastard's good with swords. He seems to prefer thrusts over slashes. Took a blood sample, left me a present."

Seifer pointed his own, wounded, forehead.

"You know what the weird thing is, Commander?

He let me live. He wanted my blood. Why kill Rajin, if all he wanted was a bit of my blood?"

Squall wasn't able to answer.

"One last thing...he called me Knight."

Squall lost his cool. While the world knew of Sorceress and theirs Knights, it was mostly due to a B-movie made many years ago. While Adel, Edea and Ultimecia were well known, the only knight most people ever heard of was fictional.

Or, at least, that was how it was supposed to be.

("They know. They are looking for Knights. And if they are looking for me...")

"Rinoa!"

In that very moment, the door opened and Irvine came in

"Squall, there are...problems in the garage."

Squall turned his head to look at Irvine noticing a yellow light coming off his pager. Code Yellow: possible breach of security.

"I'm going."

"I'm going with you, you may need backup."

"No, Irvine. Go into the Doctor's Room: there's a hidden ladder that leads to the first floor. Go and find the better position to snipe."

"You don't think..."

"I do."

* * *

The commander and the cowboy left Seifer alone. The fallen knight forced himself out of the bed to see Fujin. She was sleeping, her chest moving up and down as her lungs inhaled and exhaled the air. Her porcelain-white skin showed no trace of wounds, just a couple of bruises, but they'll be gone in a week.

"I'm sorry, Fuu."

He truly was. What happened was his fault, there's no way around it. He wanted to play with powers greater then himself and ended up being played instead. He knew that some sort of retribution was about to come. Rajin was collateral damage, guilty of being his friend.

There were only two people who always cared for Seifer and now one of them was no more.

Did he ever _thanked_ him?

Did he ever told him how much he admired his fishing skills?

He never did. They were his friends and he used them. They tried to protect him and they got caught in the crossfire.

It's too late to apologize. The only thing he could offer them was revenge.

That's why I told Squall everything. To use the SeeD as a weapon.

The gunblader removed the bandaged that limited his movements and recovered his clothes and weapon. He checked the magazine, only to find out that he only had an handful of bullets left. That wasn't good but...whatever. He hated himself for thinking that word.

He looked at his reflection in a mirror, noticing a scar on his face. A new, fresh one. That was the gift left behind by Rajin's killers: another scar, longer and deeper that crossed the one Squall gave him on that day, leaving him with a Cross-shaped scar on his face.

* * *

Squall was running towards the Garage, drawing the attention of the students who were still aroud. Only SeeDs would act on a yellow code, to not spread panic, so most of the kids around had no idea of what was happening.

But suddenly, Squall saw people running away from the cafeteria. The Loudspeaker announced

"ATTENTION: Code Orange. All SeeDs whose ID is even are to converge in the cafeteria. All SeeDs whose ID is odd are on protection duty. I repeat."

Squall couldn't care less for what his SeeD was, even or odd. He drew his LionHeart, ready to unleash the blue blade onto whoever dared to intrude into the Garden. Three of four more SeeD joined him. Zell, Quistis and Selphie were already there

"Squall" – Selphie said – "Somebody used Cid's code to access the lower levels from the garage, but nobody was there!"

("a distraction. They knew we were going to check...")

That was a move in plan long in the making. Whoever they were, they managed to get inside the heart of the Garden undetected.

"BLIZZAGA!"

The SeeDs had to dodge a wave of cold coming from Rinoa. Squall saw a man whose clothes matched Seifer's description getting hit in the chest and falling down. he had a different helmet tought, with the lower half of his face showing. Counting him, there were five of them. Two of them were circling around Rinoa, one of them was wielding dual weapons while the other one was wearing fighting gloves. This man managed to barely dodge a spell doing a backflip, then jumped against Rinoa, only to bounce off her protect shield. Angelo, a smart and faithful dog indeed, saw an opening and bit the man in the ankle, but was sent flying with a kick. However, it managed to create a distraction.

Everything went black as Rinoa focused her power, creating an unnatural shadow around her. From the shadow, tiny lights appeared like stars in the night. A faint light at first, but growing stronger and brighter each second. Rinoa clenched her fist as if she were grabbing the lights that disappeared all together.

Then, she released the lights as Meteors.

The attack was so strong that even the defenders had to lie down to avoid the hit, but the enemies stood still.

("They guarded at the last second while calling a Shell Shield?")

The SeeD countercharged, trying to get their numbers in play and the enemies left Rinoa alone to face this new threat. Squall dashed in, facing the one armed with a spear: Rajin's killer. He was just a big as Rajin, but far more agile. His movements were quick and his hands nimble, he was good enough to hold his ground against two SeeDs using both the blade and the blunt end of his weapon, using the weapons as a staff or as a very long sword, constantly changing his range. Squall managed to dodge a hit, but the SeeD on his left was clothesline by the attack and the spear never stopped spinning, creating a whirlwind of steel around the user. Squall dodged again and countered, but his opponent blocked the hit using the middle section of the weapon before hitting Squall in the jaw with it. Squall was stunned, but managed to dodge the following thrust, only to get hit behind the knee by the blunt end of the spear.

Meanwhile, Zell was not doing any better in his martial art fight against the one bitten by Angelo. Punches, kicks, slaps...the two were exchanging blows as even fighters. Zell allowed himself to get punched in the gut only to be able to grab his opponent by the wrist and elbow, twisting his arm in a submission hold. But his enemy ignored the hold and broke free by sheer strength alone before jumping onto Zell's shoulders to perform an elegant headscissor, but Zell managed to minimize the damage by rolling on his side...

"Alright, that's enough! Would you be so kind to give me your attention, please?"

The one who spoke was the man with the swords. He was holding Rinoa in a chokehold, pressing the inside of his elbow against her throat. The move was poorly executed on purpose: he wanted to use her a shield, not as an unconscious baggage to move around.

"Now, why are you SeeD so _hostile_?" – he continued – "You took it the wrong way: we have no intention of hurting you."

He sounded serious but, considering the way they acted, he probably wasn't. It was hard to read him.

"Tell that to Rajin." said Zell

The man looked surprised. The spearman shrugged his shoulders

"I gave him a chance to yield. He sucker punched me in the dick. I took offense to that."

"Well, that's a _good_ reason if I've ever heard one." – said the swordman, unfazed – "Anyway..."

"What do you want?"

"Oh, must be Squall Leonhart. The mighty hero who killed Ultimecia with his Gunblade. I believe I saw your picture in the papers or something. I'm honored to meet you, Sir Knight."

It was confirmed. Not only he knew about Seifer, but he knew about him too. Only a handful of people in the world were supposed to know that. Even in Esthar, Laguna made it a state secret.

"Oh. Looks like I'm right! And I'm pretty sure that she's Rinoa Heartilly, daughter of Fury Caraway and Julia Heartilly, the last living Sorceress!

...did I just say too much?

Oops...sorry about that. Really, I apologize."

Everyone looked at the girl with surprise. Sorceress were feared and hated and yet the Commander allowed one of them to live in the Garden. Rinoa looked both desperate and ashamed and the fact that the swordsman appeared regretful did nothing to soothe Squall's hate towards him.

("Do not touch her.")

"Tell me what you want. Let her go and we'll talk about it."

"Please. I am many deplorable things, but stupid ain't one of them: I learned how worthless a SeeD's word is. No. She's coming with me. And you'll give us what I need."

The one who fought Zell took a syringe from a bag. He reached Rinoa and uncovered her left arm, only to plunge the needle in it.

That was too much for Squall. He hit the spearman in the face with the pommel of his Gunblade, knocking him aside and charged forward, but stopped when the swordman put his blade just above Rinoa's carotid artery.

"Now, let's not do anything that we'll both regret. We are only taking a blood sample and not even a very big one. Your ladyfriend here loses way more blood on those days of the month, I suppose.

And you, are we done?"

"Yes, we are. Oh, my. You really want to look at that!"

The fighter had just finished putting Rinoa's blood into a small cellphone-like thing and showed the display to the swordman. They both smiled.

("I'm gonna wipe that smile off your face.")

But Squall had to wait. He just needed to lead them out of the cafeteria. Once they are out, Irvine will take care of that.

"Well, that's all good. Now, the knight."

Squall assumed his stance

"If you want my blood, why won't you take it yourself?"

"Uh...fighting the great hero...that would be nice, yes." – he licked his teeth as he said that – "Too bad I have a meeting already scheduled, and I'm really short on time. How about two weeks from now, 12 'o clock?

Until then, you should just comply, like the good soldier you are."

Squall had no choice but to let them do it. They analyzed it like they did with Rinoa's.

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, we will be on our way."

On their way out, the swordman issued an order to the spearman, while pointing at their comrade on the ground

"Brother, would you please recover that useless lump of frozen fat from the ground? Thank you."

Squall ordered the SeeD to let them pass, while waiting for Irvine. But the cowboy was taking his sweet time.

("What are you doing?")

* * *

Irvine saw everything that happened down there and understood the reason why Squall told him to go on the Second Floor. Squall was a wise man indeed. The cowboy waited until he finally saw Rinoa being dragged along by a man with swords. He focused only on his breathing and took aim.

 _Click_

The unmistakable sound of a P38 and the cold touch of a gun against his head.

"I didn't think I had company."

"Really? I had no doubt. You SeeDs are predictable. By the way, it goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: Don't even think of pulling the trigger."

"Why? I'm going down anyway."

"It's for your own good. Personally, I don't care if you live or die."

"Neither do I."

The man with the gun took a deep breath.

"I believe you. So I'll ask you to believe me. Right now, I'm Dual-wielding. The gun in my right hand is the one you're feeling right now.

The gun in my left hand is actually following _a pretty girl in a yellow dress_."

Irvine dropped his rifle. They waited in silence until the group on the ground floor was out of sight.

"That was for the best. Oh, nothing personal. You know how this song and dance goes."

The man shoot Irvine twice on his calves. Irvine screamed as the shooter ran away but nobody came to help. Because of the Code Orange, nobody was around.

* * *

Squall followed the enemies, ready to jump in at any moment. They reached the Quad where, somehow, several Aerialbikes were parked in full view.

But there was a man blocking their path to the bikes.

Cid. With a Gunblade.

("...?")

The spearman grabbed Rinoa has the swordman moved in to face Cid.

"Good to see you, father."

("Father?!")

Cid took a fighting stance, his arms lifted hiding the gunblade behind his back

"You know I can't let you pass."

"You know I will anyway."

"How do you knew the code?"

"Please...the day you married Edea. Easy to the point of being insulting."

Cid stroke first with a overhead strike. His gunblade was light and not as strong as Squall's, but faster. The swordman dodged the first strike by stepping back and attacked. Cid managed to deflect the first flurry, but the gunblade was ill positioned and could do nothing to stop the swordman from headbutting him. Cid fell on his right knee but did not yield. He pushed forward, a backhand diagonal upward slash.

 _ **Rough Divide.**_

But a strike coming from the opposite direction was enough to stop it. The swordman hit Cid with a Knee in the stomach followed by a punch in the face. Cid went down and the fighter tossed another syringe at the swordman, who added Cid's blood to the collection

"Forgive my rudeness. But that's they I was trained, as I'm sure you remember. Everyone, hop on, we're leaving!"

The group obeyed his order and he let Rinoa go. The swordman smiled at Rinoa, held tight in Squall's arms.

"I hope for our next meeting to be more peaceful.

My Best Regards to you all!"

The engines roared and they left the Garden, disappearing in the sky after a few minutes.

Squall looked at the empty sky, bitter and angry.

Today they were defeated.

But they were not done yet.

* * *

 **Author's note** : So, this is chapter 3. I want to thank those who are following this story. I hope I'll make you want to leave a review!

As for Cid's Character, I just thought that, given the fact the Edea was a sorceress since she was five years old (Ultimecia found her much later) Cid, as her husband, was in the best position to be her knight. And a Knight has to be a good fighter. Regarding his weapon, not only Seifer and Squall (the only Knights we know of) are Gunblade specialist but even Laguna, despite only acting the part in a movie, used a Gunblade. Of course, being a former knight past his prime, Cid was no match for his opponent.

Who are those lively murderous fellas? Well, I don't really like cliffhangers nor questions left unaswered so I'm not going to make you wait for long.

See you soon!


	4. Wild Night

Not a single soul noticed him. All the SeeDs and cadets were following the Security Protocol, which roughly translates as "get the hell out of here so you don't get killed", so there was nobody in this part of the Garden.

Seifer was still limping, but managed to keep a quick pace nonetheless. He kept walking through the gates and the mobile bridges that connected the Garden to the land. He didn't know what he was looking for, but Seifer was sure that his instinct would know as soon as he'll land his eyes on it. Whatever it was, it was bound to be in plain sight. There would not be a better place to hide than a place for everyone to see. He knew it, because he would have done the same.

And there it was. It was right.

An Aerial Bike, model T3. Designed in Esthar, produced in South Galbadia, parked perfectly between the white lines and it was even showing the license and the permit (a forgery, no doubt, but very well made). Seifer had a test drive with one of those bikes when he was at his highest point in the Galbadian Army: made for a single pilot, with a big luggage compartment, able to reach one time and an half the speed of the Bullet Train. While such a bike would have make a wonderful tool for a quick recon mission, the downsides were a bit too much for the Government to keep investing in. First, it could not fly for long. But the most important thing was that not only a special suit and helmet were needed to drive it safely, but the pilot himself has to be in top shape and able to summon and maintain a Protect Shield for the whole flight.

The bikes used to be red, but this one was repainted with the colors of the Balamb garden. If anyone had happen to take a good look at it, he would have likely thought of it as SeeD's gadgetry.

Seifer carefully broke the lock that kept the luggage compartment closed: it was empty. Feeling that Lady Luck was finally on his side, He grinned as he forced himself into the compartment.  
That was his battle. Not Squall's, not SeeD's.  
Plus, how much time would they need to locate this new enemy? Given the nature of their job, would they even try to find them if nobody pays for it? It was in times like this that the thought of him not being a SeeD made him happy. SeeD were mercenaries, paid to follow orders, trapped in their own protocol. As soon as Code Orange was announced they all got so busy following their duty that a freakin' Aerial Bike parked right outside their front door!

No, the SeeDs would never catch those guys: they were both sneaky and shameless. Only someone who's just a shameless as them (like Seifer) could have ever hoped to catch their tail.

Seifer wanted to find their base, and hiding there would allow him to do so. Once the base's found, the Hyperior would do the talking. And if worst came to worst, he had a Plan B ready.

He stopped at the armory to get some ammo for his gunblade, but found none of it. Instead, he found a pair of TIAMAT Hand Granades. And those weapons were called TIAMAT, all spelled in capitals, for a reason. Only a SeeD with a proved and successful record of service is allowed to use them and only in a few and detailed circumstances.  
Taking them was, of course, a theft. And seeing the potential of these weapons, not a crime the Garden could overlook, especially for a man who was already on "parole". This act would probably cost him the Garden's protection...

"...so what?"

he said out loud. It's not like he asked them to protect him in the first place. Since Ultimecia fell he was faced with the mercy of those who fought and loathed him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone approaching the bike. A second later, that someone was sitting in the driver's seat igniting the engines. Lady Luck was really smiling at Seifer: that man had no luggage, so he didn't ever bother to check. The blonde man almost puked when the bike rose from the ground and started moving, but managed to keep it inside.

A loud "BIP" followed by the words "Access Granted" told him that the communication system was now operational.

"Mission Successful. No casualties. Anything to add to the Report?"

The voice sounded mechanical and distorted, but still quite clear. The speakers were basically part of the compartment Seifer was in so he could hear as well as the driver.

"You were right, my brother. You guys had a sniper at your 7, with a nice view on your heads. I stopped him."

"Stopped as in killed?" asked the voice, slightly upset

"Stopped as in stopped. You wanted no casualties, you had no casualties."

What was Rajin, then?

"Good – said the voice – We don't want them to be openly hostile. Too bad the Father tried to stop us."

"The Father? Did he tried to use the old gunblade?"

The driver laughed loudly, something the voice didn't really appreciated

"He was one of the best of his time. His older now, and far from his prime, but I won't allow you to make fun of him."

"Take it easy, Brother. Have you seen the lost one?"

"Maybe. Can't be sure. Lots of orphans in there. Everybody, Stealth mode. No communication unless necessary. Look out for Galbadian Navy. Fly under radar."

30 minutes of silence followed. Since they were looking out for Galbadians, their hiding place had to be around that continent. A wise choice, Seifer thought. Since Caraway had become president ad interim, Galbadia had stopped his expansionism. However, there was still a group of high ranking officers who didn't share this view and it looked like a civil war was about to start. With the Galbadian too busy guarding against each other, a small group of fighters could hide very easily. Probably, they were even playing on one or both sides of that game. If only they hadn't kill Rajin, they could have been the best of friends. However, "Ifs" don't make history.

"We are here. 2, 3 and 4: you have permission to land. 1 and 5: circle around, make sure we didn't grow a tail. I am going to a business meeting."

"What if we grew a tail?"

"React with Extreme Prejudice."

Seifer started to choke and his ear started pulsating. The bike was quickly descending and he nearly passed out due to the sudden difference in pressure. A few minutes later, the bike landed but Seifer waited a whole hour. A wise decision, since numbers 1 and 5 arrived late. He waited until the place was completely silent to make his move. It was night already, the perfect time to move.

* * *

He removed his fighting mask and changed his clothes, since an armor would have been quite out of place for the occasion. He couldn't remember if it was Ballet or Opera, but he knew that whatever it was it would definitely bore him to death. He felt like he was suffocating in this black suit; after all, he was the kind of guy who took the idiom "dressed to kill" literally. It was very hard to hide weapons in a suit. Small guns, of course, boosted by the para-magic he had access to, but he wasn't very good at neither of them.

He cursed the nobles and their refined taste. He was sure that his clients hated that stuff just like he did, but you know, nobless oblige! He found the ticket he was looking for on the table of his hotel room...something called "Last Fantasy" or whatever...just what kind of drug was the author into?

("still better than the last Art Gallery I went to...")

An exhibition of modern art. The main piece? A wooden chair. When they asked him to kill the artist, a couple of years later, he gave the client a big discount. That was justice, after all.

He gave a last look at the mirror, feeling closer to penguins than humans. He combed his short black hair one last time before going out. He used to have long flowing hair, but shorter hair were simply more practical and do not turn into a dangerous grabbing point in melee; only a couple of locks now were long enough to reach his forehead, stopping right before his greenish/bluish eyes. He was pretty proud of his goatee and the "sharp" look it gave him.

He left the Hotel and the girl at the reception told him that his limo was already waiting. The streets were almost empty, so he managed to arrive in time in front of the Opera house, under the statue of a roaring lion. A few minutes later a woman approached him. What a woman! They told him that a "middle-aged lady" would be meeting him, but he found himself dealing with some sort of skinny, undead, behemoth! He was disgusted by that rotting old hag sporting a decolletage that would have been shameful for a 20 years old. And yet, he proved himself stoic and kissed her hand as a perfect gentleman would.

"What is a handsome boy like you doing alone?"

"I'm waiting for a beautiful dame in a red dress." he said, as his lunch went up and down in his stomach

"Oh, you sweet talker! Let us go, then: my husband is waiting for you."

"It's such an honor to see the Opera with you."

("Next time, skip lunch")

the man who was waiting for him did not greet him. Actually, he didn't even look at his face. He was about to start talking when the young man stopped him. He took a small device out of his pocket, a metal sphere, which buzzed for a while before stopping. It was a jammer, made in Esthar.

"You've got eyes and hears on you, Marshal. There are a lot of bugs around."

"How am I gonna to explain this meeting?"

"You will tell your friends that I am the Wallet's bastard son. You will tell your other friends that we have a deal"

"Good. Do you want me to give the mission details?"

"That's why I'm here. Next time, however, I'll met you in a café."

A USB device changed hands.

"Timber, Wednesday. President Fury Caraway will announce the independence of the city. The leaders of the former Resistence Movements will be there; most of them are running for Governor."

"And you want us to make a mess, am I right?"

"Yes. However, the Leader of "Timber's Beast" has been forbidden from running for the office. As you know, he was too violent and extreme."

"The kind of guy who won't take no for an answer and is likely to retaliate violently."

"exactly. He will be there too."

("to give them someone to blame.")

"Let's talk about money."

"There's a bag with 5 million cash in the hotel room you pointed us. I believe you'll find the amount to be generous."

"No. I find it fair."

"You have only one shot. You must not fail."

"Nobody ever complained."

The young man stood up and excused himself. The old lady tried to stop him, grabbing him by the sleeves. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. For an instant, his playful facade crumbled leaving his bloodlust unchecked.

"Don't."

A single word, a whisper. And yet a most effective death threat, so much that the old hag was visibly shaken. He called a cab and went back to his hotel.

He went to the room right below his and found the cash the Marshal promised. No bugs, no ink bags. Nothing but the money. He double checked the amount and tested them for foreign substances, like tracking powder. They were as clean as it gets. Good.

He changed back to his civilian outfit and took his swords. A man walking around Deling City with swords was, after all, not an uncommon sign in their world, considering that the outskirts were often plagued by monsters and mercenaries were always in high demand. He ate at the restaurant near the Arc De Triumphe, waiting for a call. He was already at his second beer when the public phone on the other side of the road rung three times.

He took out his mobile: their line was now open to communication. He put the USB in a slot of his phone and said

"There's a party in Timber on Tuesday night. No dress code. We need to buy a present for our party boy."

Their line was encrypted, but they always spoke in code. "Party" meant a job to be done in public. Tuesday actually meant Wednesday, since they always talked about the day before. The last line meant that they had to put the blame on someone.

His night was basically over, nothing left to do. So he went back to his hotel. He took a shortcut thought a dark alley and soon he heard the sound of steps approaching him. It was still possible to get out of there but...oh no, they had already surrounded him.

For the first time in a while, he was genuinely surprised. He didn't expect to be surrounded that easily.

"Give us everything you have."

Adventurers and mercenaries usually had several hundreds or thousands gils worth of items and he was no exception. However, there were some differences between him and other adventurers. He quickly analyzed the threat.

Five men with handguns. Stolen handguns. Their clothes were decent, but old-fashioned, the kind of clothes mothers give away...and they were awfully dirty. Lowlifes, thieves. Not a threat, but two of them had military training.

("One sword should do it.")

He wore his leather gloves and closed his eyes.

("One...")

"Stay still! The money, swords!"

("Two...")

One of them took a step towards him.

"Three."

The weapon was shining when he drew it out of the scabbard, separating the wrist of the one in front of him from the rest of the body. He avoided the bullets doing a front flip, while counting the number of shot taken at him. Another flash of steel and another man down, this time with nothing below his knees. The swordsman looked at that face, twisted from the pain and yet unable to scream due to the para-magic junctioned to the sword.

The swordsman liked silence.

He dodged more bullets and then he bounced of a wall, gaining enough momentum to pierce the next opponent right through the throat. Still, the dead man stood standing and the swordsman used his body as a shield and as a weapon, pushing him against another enemy and pierced them both. Only one left. Since he was too scared to shoot, the swordsman plunged the sword into the hearts of those lying on the ground, the one without an hand and the one without legs.

"Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

Why was that fool still there? He had all the time he needed to run for his miserable life. He wasn't there to avenge his fallen comrades. Pride? A man like that has no pride. It was Fear. Simple Fear. He could see it in his eyes.

("Isn't it weird?")

("How the same act can be born from both courage and fear?")

He never felt fear. It's not like he was brave or anything: he was just modified...trained to be fearless. He could not help but despise those who felt fear. He moved, the thief shot at him, but the bullet was deflected by the swords.

 _Click_

"You're out of ammo."

The thief dropped the gun and asked for mercy. The swordsman was now disgusted.

"Well, now it's too late to be sorry isn't it?"

The last thing the thief saw was a dark shadow showered by an azure rain.

Then, the pain, as if a hundred burning knives were stabbing him, in a second that seemed like an eternity.

In the end, the darkness.

* * *

Seifer waited nighttime to move. Gunblade in hand, he found a small door who led him out of the hangar. The lights were on, so he looked around him: a big corridor and a great amount of nothing. There was a window...no, a porthole. Seifer asked himself what was a porthole doing there, and looked outside, only to see nothing but the black sea.

They were on a ship. They were on a freakin' ship! A ship! And not a small one.

After the surprise, disappointment followed. Plan B was out of the question: even in the best case scenario, Seifer would have ended lost at sea. He wandered around without alerting anyone and found himself in the lower level. He heard footsteps coming from one of the rooms and hid himself, ready to strike.

"Ravenant, is that all?"

"Our brother told us to keep a low profile, we really don't need much."

Seifer dared to peek and saw two men with crates on their shoulder move along the corridor. They left the door unlocked and Seifer entered that room. He could not restrain himself from smiling when he realized he had just found the armory. Sadly, no explosives. He broke the lock and left: that was a place definitely worth a second visit.

Seifer followed the voices until he found the briefing room. There were big screens on the walls, maps, computers and a lot of other stuff.

"We have to go to Timber. Let's follow the 3-1-7 to Monday Beach. Ravenant?"

"Yeah, since we're doing it in Timber I took the kind of weapons those Resistance Group would use. Nothing really fancy, but they'll get the job done."

"Good. Ray, see what you can get from Galbadian Intel. Focus on Timber's Beast."

"Already on it, dowloading."

Timber's Beast...that name wasn't new to Seifer. It was that summer, the summer he spent with Rinoa. She was going on and on about Timber, and freedom and whatever, he wasn't really listening. Most of the groups she mentioned had animal's names. The Dreadful Chocobos, Timber's Fox, Fly of the Seagulls and Timber's Beast. Now, Rinoa hated them: she was sure that the whole group used "freedom" as an excuse to cover their common crimes. Galbadians on the other hand loved them, since they always made more victims among their own citizen rather than among the invading army and their acts actually justified the massive galbadian presence in town. Their MO included a lots of bombs and random shootings.

"Loaded. Sent to secondary screen. You'll find them quite unpleasant."

"Puah. Butchers. Not a hint of style. Ray, do you have a picture of their leader?"

A picture was uploaded, but Seifer couldn't see it.

"So, this guy has to get out of there safely?"

"Mostly. No bombs until he's out. We'll put a single bullet into...what was that animal with a long nose?"

"Elephant?"

"Nay, smaller."

"a small elephant?"

"Ravenant, you're either an idiot or you have the world's worst sense of humor. Either way, shut up."

"A tapir?"

"Yes, that's the one, thank you Ray. We put a single bullet into Tapir's face's foot. Make sure to do as little damage as possible."

It was an easy and effective way to put the blame on the beasts. It would be hard to justify a flesh wound to the foot while all the other victims were shot with clear intent to kill.

"12:38, Ray will clean the road and will it safe. Civilian outfit. Blazer will go inside the building dressed as a Galbadian Soldier. Einrich, you'll disable the emergency exits. Ravenant and I will take the main door.  
12:40, we open fire. There'll be lots of high level politician, those are top priorities. Avoid women and children if possible.  
12:42 we're out. Ray will cover our retreat while we get to the bikes.  
12:50 we're here. If can't be here, go the nearest safehouse in Dollet.

That's it. I'll tell our big brother about the plan. He'll probably do a reckon on his own."

"Alright. Ray, can you download me some R-Rated Stuff? You know what I like."

"Glasses, blondes, lots of plot. Already sent."

"Everybody, a round of applause for Ravenant and Ray, who use state of the art equipment to watch some porn."

"Shush, you lolicon. There are no ladies in this team and we can't bring women on board."

"I told you a million times before, she was old enough to give consent and I was just two years older; people her age in Esthar could even get married, for Hyne's Laws..."

Seifer left. They were kinda hard to figure out: on one hand, they were ruthless enough to take a job involving the killing of innocent people. On the other hand, they acted like that. Still, there was something weird in the voice of the one giving orders...it was like he was trying too hard or acting a part...  
Anyway, it was impressive. It only took five minutes for them to make a plan like that. The speaker just looked at the map once to understand how they needed to move. That was some impressive quick thinking. Abnormal.

Now, Seifer had to choose. At first, he thought about killing them in their sleep and then go to the nearest land on an Aerial Bike. But his paramagic reserve were running extremely low. And still, what about the ones not on this ship?

In the end he choose to wait until everyone on that floor was asleep. He went to the briefing room and pressed random buttons until a computer turned on. He noticed that they had a direct-access link to the Balamb Garden. He knew that there was someone in the garden who would turn on her own device as soon as she wakes up to refresh her diary. The e-mail he sent to her was enough to force their hands.  
But, for now, it was still Seifer's turn. He paid a second visit to the armory, where he left two TIAMATs.

"What are you doing here, fallen knight?"

Busted. Seifer turned around, and saw a young man wearing a black uniform. His skin color was pretty much the same as Rajin, but he was much shorter and really, really slim. Seifer drew his weapon and leant it on his shoulder.

"I felt like it."

Seifer pointed the weapon as the opponent put hid his hands in his pockets. Before Seifer could even understand what was happening, he was forced to dodge three throwing knives. Seifer dashed forward in a slicing motion, but his opponent jumped out of the way, throwing a fourth knife for good measure, that Seifer deflected with his blade. The fallen knight resorted to a Firaga Spell, but that one dodged with a cartwheel and countered with a couple of shurinken.

"Did you learn how to fight in dance class?"

"I've done ballet for five years, thank you for noticing."

Seifer went on the offensive, forcing his opponent to dodge with increasing difficult and hard movements. However, just when he believed he finally had the advantage, that guy drew two daggers and attacked. Seifer sidestepped to dodge and tried a spinning attack to hit the man on his back, but he dodged yet again. His opponent started to aim at Seifer's legs, forcing the knight to retreat and move to a bigger space to avoid being trapped.  
The daggers were fast but Seifer was still unharmed. Their range, after all, was shorter than swords meaning that this time Seifer had control over distance.  
The next fire spell took the opponent by surprise and Seifer started spinning his gunblade until the blade was shining green and his heartbeat was several times faster than normal. He was now one with his blade, and he started spinning with his whole body, faster and faster

" **DEMON SLICE!** "

Like a hurricane, a steel hurricane, he clashed upon his opponent, hitting him several times. His opponent was tossed in the air and they were both several feet above the ground when the attack ended. Seifer smiled as he was floating with the last bit of energy left from the Demon Slice as he expected to look upon a dead man. His breath was taken away when he saw a black cloud in front of him, like condensed smog, with a demon face.  
He took a moment for him to realize that he was looking at a Guardian Force.

"Demon Wall... **Piercing Arrow**."

 _Arrows_ would have been the right word. Dozens and dozens of arrows fell on Seifer like acid rain, and the blonde man was force to defend himself using a Shell spell, which dispelled half of them, but the one that passed through the shield were enough to force him on the ground. Seifer saw the man landing gracefully on the hangar's floor. But he was different: his skin was pitch black now and his eyes were completely white; his right arm was now made of smoke and his whole body looked distorted.

"What the hell are you?"

"You're surprised. I supposed is natural: you only know how to _summon_ your GFs, after all."

Seifer used the last Haste Magic he had left. He closed the distance before his opponent could even blink and pulled the trigger at the right time.  
A perfect hit!

But the blade found no resistance and went through the body without damage

"It's hard to hit someone who's made of smoke and fog - said the man as he put his hand on Seifer's chest - ULTIMA."

Pain. Just pain.  
Seifer forced himself not to scream as he went flying through the hangar. The Shell spell prevented his death, but the magic shield was now broken and he could not summon another one. He stood up, using the gunblade as a stick yet again. He looked around, as the words of the man who trained him echoed into his mind.

 _"Your first weapon is the battlefield. Use it."_

He took a deep breath and assumed his stance yet again, moving to a more favorable position. Not that obstacles had any relevance, since his opponent just walk through them. When the man was close enough, Seifer moved quickly to his back and attacked. A trust. Not even close to the target.

"Well, ain't that just pitiful"

"What, you can't recognize a perfect hit when you see one?"

The man looked surprised behind him and saw that Seifer had actually hit the button to open the doors of the hanger. The wind was strong, very strong. And strong wind and smoke don't get along well.

"See you."

A wind spell ended the fight. The man was now a shapeless black mist in the wind, dragged away from the hangar into the void of the night.  
Seifer sat on the floor, tired and unable to fight. However, when three other men in black uniform appeared he just smiled at them.

"So, who's next?"

"I believe we are not done yet."

He was still there, in human form. Seifer almost won by ringout, but he apparently turned back into human halfway. He was wounded and bruised, his left arm looked like it was about to fall apart and blood was spilling from his mouth.

"That was a great idea. I had to stop my symbiosis, and still took damage. Still, the wind spell you used was not enough to lift me in human form.  
This one should do: Demon Wall, **Black Tornado**!"

Seifer was caught by a black smoke and lifted in the air, higher and higher. As the black wind took him away, Seifer saw that the ship was now just a small, faint dot in the distance...


	5. A story to tell

They moved Irvine to the infirmary. The damage was nothing serious, but doctor Kadowaki had to remove parts of the bullets, a long and painful job at the end of which Irvine was sentenced to spend the night in the infirmary.

"Alone" said the doctor, looking at Selphie

Rinoa was unarmed. The doctor recommended a night of rest in the infirmary, but she refused. There were several wounded SeeDs but again, nothing really serious. The attackers aimed for quick Knockouts, no lethal force was used; Cid himself, while beaten, could hardly be called injured. Despite that, the Headmaster refused to answer any question, something that really got on Squall's nerves. The man said that he had to talk with someone else as he only knew part of the story. For a minute, Squall wished that the swordsman had used an heavier hand when swinging against Cid.

("That's not the time to withhold information!")

Oh, and Seifer disappeared. Gone. Missing. Zell was probably the least bothered by that fact, as he suggested to just give that "ungrateful son of bitch" to the winds and tides (a polite Balambian way to say "sod off").

"No damage to property. No seriously wounded personnel. All in All, Squall, that's not a bad report for a code orange." said Xu at the end of her report.

Still, Squall wasn't wearing a party hat for a reason: Xu did not mention the damage to Squall's pride in the report.

He promised to Rinoa that he would protect here. He failed at that. Sure, nothing happened, but it could have.

("I thought everything would end with Ultimecia")

But he was wrong. And now he was utterly terrified. He replayed the scene in his mind a thousand time, trying to convince himself that he did what he could. It was true: the enemy moved carefully, actively trying to avoid any bloodshed to avoid retaliation, showing no openings in the process.

But still, he could not sleep. He rose from the bed he was sharing with Rinoa, put on his pants and jacket and grabbed his gunblade.  
As soon as he stepped outside the two SeeDs assigned to guard duty saluted him.

"All quiet, Commander."

Squall nodded and moved to the Training Center. After all, it's not like there was anything to do inside the Garden at nighttime. Plus, he needed some time to think.

Inside the training center a Grat dared to approach him, only to be dispatched in a single hit. A couple of those plant thing tried a surprise attack, forcing him to dodge but again, those thing weren't a challenge. A Firaga and a slash put an end to the fight.

He reached the secret zone. Nobody was there. Perfect.

Too many social obligations. Pictures, Parties, handshakes, medals and speeches to show the SeeD how everyone in the world was incredibly grateful for their heroic actions and how proud of leaving the fate of the world to a group of 17 years old everyone was. People recognized them on the streets now, many asked to see his gunblade; the girls were honored by that, Zell and Irvine...well, they were Zell and Irvine and reacted just how one could expect from them. Squall? He just wanted some peace and quiet.

Mighty Hero. That swordsman pronounced those words as if they were a joke...and they probably are. Squall was having a very hard time to see himself as someone even remotely heroic.  
They faced Ultimecia, the Galbadian Army, Robots, monsters and whatever...and yet five people were able to pass through all the Garden's defenses to reach Rinoa while he was busy talking with Seifer.

Seifer...were was he? He left without telling anyone, which is not out of character for him, but at the worst possible time. Squall was sure that Seifer did not lie to him but he knew that the blonde man only told those parts of the story he wanted to share. And now they were left with no hints. For a minute, Squall stared intensely at his pager. A few words, just "protection revoked", to make Seifer pay...it's not like he didn't deserve it, after all...let's be honest, had any other man but Seifer did what he did, the SeeDs would have hunted him down like a dangerous animal.

Squall shook his head, ashamed.

"Every time I leave you alone you end up in some dark corner overthinking yourself to death."

Squall looked behind his shoulders and saw Rinoa in jeans and tank top walking towards him with her hands behind her back. It was her first time in secret zone and her curious sparkling eyes kept moving around the room until she finally sat at Squall's side, with her back against the balustrade. She looked amused.

"So, that's the famous Secret Zone everyone keeps talking about. It's much cleaner than I thought it be."

"So it appears. – Squall looked at her – Why are you here? Where are Clarence and...the other one?"

"You mean Pitt? Don't you know the names of my babysitters?"

"Bodyguards. I know they are good SeeD. What I don't know is why they left you alone and if they're gonna be SeeD tomorrow."

He regretted his words as soon as they went out of his mouth. He could feel her eyes, flaming with holy anger, on his neck.

"Oh yes, because I cannot take care of myself – she curled up, grabbing her legs and leaning her heads on the knees – everyone keeps asking if I am ok, everyone looks at me like I am some sort of porcelain doll that may break at the first breeze. I was there when we fought Ultimecia! I got hit by Griever too! And yet...you all are treating me like I am made of crystal.."

Squall sat near her and Rinoa laid her head on his shoulder; he wanted to hug her, but he wasn't sure if that was the right move or not.

"Sorry..."

As Irvine said, you can never go wrong if you tell your ladyfriend that you're sorry. They always think you've done something you shouldn't have, and they are usually right about it anyway.

"No...you are right. I know you are because you feel guilty but Squall...you did so much for me already! How many times did you save me, risking your own life in the process? Don't feel guilty because of what happened today. Just...don't. 'kay?"

Squall nodded, silently.

"I don't want to be a burden anymore, Squall."

"You are not a burden, Rin."

"No, I'm not – she said sarcastically – is perfectly normal to have two SeeDs as bodyguards inside the Garden!"

("Four, actually. I wonder where the other two are...")

"They are just a precaution. Just in case."

"Just in case you're not around, am I right? I can take of myself...oh, who am I kidding?!"

exasperated, maybe even ashamed, Rinoa hid her face between her knees once again.

"I cast my best spells on them and they were unfazed by it."

"They were prepared – said Squall – They had Shell Shields already on and maybe even more."

"That's not the point...I want to learn how to fight, Squall."

"Rinoa, you can fight!"

"I'm sure the man with the swords would beg to differ! He dodged my weapon and grabbed me before the boomerfritz could even come back! Then he put this thing around my neck..."

Rinoa took something out of her pocket. A white necklace made of metal and plastic.

("this is...!")

"Yes. One of the items Odine created to suppress the Sorceress Power. Squall, you are the commander here. People here need you. I am just a burden."

"You are not."

Squall really believed in what he just said and Rinoa understood that he wasn't just trying to be nice.

"I want to learn how to fight in the old fashioned way."

The girl pretended to punch Squall who tried to put up a smile instead of saying that if she were to punch anyone with that she would break her wrist. She could her his fake smile a mile away, but decided to say nothing. He was trying hard, after all.

"You're a good and gentle man, Squall" she said, biting her lips to avoid giggling at Squall's blushing face

"It's late. Let's go to bed."

Squall stood up and took Rinoa hands to help her rise from the uncomfortable position she was in. Perhaps he pulled with too much force, because Rinoa was almost catapulted into him, almost making him lose his balance. Without a word, she hugged him tightly and he did the same.

They left the secret zone and found Clarence and Pitt and the entrance, each armed with an assault rifle to keep both monsters and students at bay. Squall thought that maybe, just maybe, he didn't have to punish them both and told them to go get some sleep. Rinoa did not want to stay alone that night, so Squall took her to his apartment. He waited until she finally managed to sleep, then he went to his office to make an important call.

"Yaaawn...who's calling at this ungodly hour? I hope somebody died!"

Apparently, Laguna was sleeping. And Squall didn't give a damn about it.

"As a matter of fact, somebody did die, Mr. President."

"Wait, what? Who, Why? When? Where? _Who_?"

Squall took a deep breath. Laguna Loire was, in a very unique way, a smart man. However, he was also a pain to deal with and he annoyed Squall to no end.

"I am Squall Leonhart, Commander of the Balamb Garden..."

"Oh, my boy! When I told you that you can call me at any hour I really didn't think you'd take that literally!"

"I apologize for the late hour..."

"I'd say you called too early rather than too late!"

Squall took another deep breath and counted to ten. The man was dancing in high heels on his nerves.

"I wouldn't have called now for a trivial reason, Mr. President."

"I know that, my boy, and I kinda fear what you're going to say. Tell me everything."

("please, stop calling me 'my boy'. I'm not your son or anything")

"President, did anything out of the ordinary happened in Odine's lab?"

"That place IS out of the ordinary. I have to ask you to be more specific."

"Theft, breach of security, unauthorized movement of data..."

Finally, there was silence. Squall could hear Laguna breathing at the other end of the phone, but nothing else.

"I see. – he finally said – I see. I will conduct an inspection right now. I'll tell you the results when we'll see each other this morning."

"There's no need to..."

"What, you didn't know?  
Cid called this evening...well, now it's yesterday evening, I guess. He said he had something of utmost importance to say to me and old Caraway."

* * *

"Squall Leonhart in the Headmaster's office. I repeat, Squall Leon... _Zell, what are you doing_? Gimme the mic! Gimme the mic!...Squall, what are you doing? Move it!"

Not the best wake up call ever, but still far from being his worst. In the end, Squall fell asleep on the sofa and Rinoa had covered him with a blanket. His clothes were a mess, but apparently he didn't have time to change so he just fixed his hair with some water and changed his shirt after spraying himself with too much deodorant for a human nose to bear with.

In the hall, near the elevator, there was a group of Galbadian Soldiers facing a smaller group of estharians. The air was tense, but luckily the hostility between the two groups didn't went beyod staring each other with mutual hatred; after all, it was impossible for them to have nothing but disdain for each other, given their decades long rivalry.

He went into the elevator and heard loud noises well before he could even open the door the headmaster's room. For a minute, he wondered if he could just ask Quistis to made a short report and disappear from the Garden for a couple of hours. However, he was the commander and such position comes with great responsibility.

He dared to open the door.

Caraways was yelling at Laguna, who was yelling back at him because he didn't like to be yelled at. Selphie was yelling because she wanted the two superpowers to talk about the Trabia situation and Quistis was yelling because she wanted to bring order.

("Now. Silently. Step Back.")

Unashamed, Squall turned his back, but Zell stopped him. The blonde man tried to talk, but he was clearly at a loss for words. In the end, he just lowered his shoulders and said

"Squall, it's chaos."

Squall sighed and covered his eyes with the palm of his hand.

"What happened?"

"Well, the Headmaster told Laguna and Caraway what happened yesterday and Laguna accused Galbadia of selling weapons to a terrorist group. Caraway took exception to that and accused Esthar of selling the results of Odine's researches. Selphie told everyone – Zell started a small falsetto, imitating Selphie – ' _hey, what about Trabia?_ ', Quis told her – now Zell straighted his back and moved his right finger in circles – ' _that's not the right time for it Selphie_ ' and Selphie did not take it well. Then...well, I kinda lost myself keeping track of everything, but it seems that Laguna wants to put something bad into Caraway's...you know what,and Caraway told him that he would made him swallow either his words or Galdanian lead and Irving is trying to take Selphie away from the table."

("the world's finest, ladies and gentleman")

Was casting "Silence" on everyone enough to cause a diplomatic incident? Squall tried to call them and bring them back to reason, but he was ignored. He took a glass from the table, tossed it in the air and then hit it with a fire spell, breaking it loudly. A small explosion, just enough to catch their attention.

"I am sure that you all have very good reason for arguing like that. However, I humbly ask of you to put aside those reason for the time being, so we can end this meeting quickly and go back to whatever business we have."

That was enough to make everyone shut up. Squall took his place at the table and Cid started talking

"Thank you, Squall. You just arrived at the part I want you to hear. This is important, because it will help us all decide what to do.

As you know, Edea founded the order of White SeeDs and I founded the SeeDs: one to protect the Sorceress, one to kill her should the need arise. That was a little over 12 years ago.

What you don't know is what I did before that. I was part of the Galbadian military and, together with other high ranking officials, including Caraway's father, we decided to create a special division. They had to be strong, resistant to magic and trained specifically to fight unconventional enemies in unconventional ways. It was too late to train adults...so we recruited teenagers and children from the orphanages. We called them, The Phalanx."

Cid his face with his hands, ashamed

"I beg you to understand. At that time, Adel's power was growing stronger by the day. We had the Esthar Army at our borders. We believed that we were actually doing all those kids a favor...granting them training and education they would never find in an orphanage...in truth, we broke them."

The headmaster rose his head and looked at Squall with tears in his eyes

"We had results. But the lengths we had to go to achieve that forced the government to disown us. So we had to gain money doing jobs...jobs that no other mercenary force would have accepted. I couldn't stand it anymore...and I left. I tried to save as many children as possible, but I failed and ran away with only an handful of them. The swordsman was one of kids I could not save. I will never forget his eyes and the look he had on that day."

Zell interrupted

"You said broke. When you say broke, you mean broke...how? They seemed pretty damn fine to me."

Cid smiled sadly

"Before we found out that Guardians Force could enhance a person's skills and talents we had artificial means to do that. Drugs and other treatments, some of it created to induce a sort of Savant Syndrome. In short, we created a warband of high functioning sociopaths with improved reflexes, more raw strength and high analysis skill than most Special Forces Operatives, but with no cognition of good and evil aside from, maybe, an intellectual level. The older ones were less effected, but the younger kids...Hyne only knows what's in their mind now.  
If the SeeD turn down a job because it's morally questionable, they will do it. After all, it was thanks to my Phalanx background that I found NORG."

Nobody said anything. The SeeD were too shocked to even move, some of them (Squall included) were not even able to believe that a man like Cid could have taken part in something like this. Caraway grew restless on his chair and broke the silence.

"I know them. Vincent Deling used the Phalanx to carry out his agenda without having to rely on our secret services. There's a reason if no politician worth his salt ever appear during his tenure as President. I suppose that those Aerial Bike you described us were part of one his transaction."

After Caraway, it was Laguna's turn.

"Well, since it's time for _mea culpa_ , I have to say something too. Yesterday, or rather tonight, Squall, I mean, Commander Leonhart, asked me if something out of the ordinary happened at Odine's Lab, and ( _oh, my nose! It's itching!_ ) it happened. It did. Every research Odine ever did was stolen. We are talking of the need-to-know stuff, the stuff that nobody even knew it existed in the first place, including a new Project called Guardian Force Symbiosis. And it gets worse. There was no breach of security. Which means..."

"Inside job." said Squall

They talked for the whole morning, but in the end the only thing they could do about the Phalanx was to raise their security levels. After all, they didn't even know if the Phalanx were acting on their own or, more likely, for someone's else. Squall was pretty sure that, in truth, both Presidents had a plan on their mind, but not something that they would share on that table.

The discussion moved to Timber as Caraway announced that the city would be officially free and independent. After all, Timber never had resources aside wood and it was still depending on Galbadia for most of its trading. Soon Caraway would announce new election and the SeeD (expecially Squall, as commander) were invited to act as watchers to make sure that everything goes smoothly and without cheating. When the Commander asked what Caraway wanted him to do, the President told him that his presence was more than enough.

Since they were talking about SeeDs, Laguna officially asked them to clean up what was left of Tear's Point. The monsters were too strong for the army and the parliament allowed him to buy the SeeD's services. He also announced his intention to create a Garden in Esthar.

That word triggered Selphie who asked what Galbadia wanted to do for Trabia and Caraway bluntly dismissed her request. Galbadia was suffering because of the crazy expenses in the last war and had let go of most of its settlements oversea and in the south.

"That means that Galbadia won't pay for what happened to Trabia?"

"Trust me on that, young lady: we are still paying for that."

Nothing else really interested Squall. The only thing he had on his mind were the Phalanx. Cid's words were still echoing in his mind: they were mercenaries, they acted in secret, but the attack at the Garden had no sense. They should have known that Cid would have recognized them. And, if things are as Cid said, why didn't they killed him? They had the chance and it would have prevented any identification. There was only one reason.

("they just don't care anymore")

and that thought was terrifying.

The meeting ended with promises of help and the usual diplomatic stuff that has no practical meaning. After the handshakes, Squall tried to leave the room quickly but felt a hand on his shoulder

"Commander Leonhart, I'd like to have a word with you."

Squall was surprised. After all, he and Caraway had no relations outside and nothing to talk about aside end-of-the-world related stuff. However, turning his back at a foreign president would have been rude.

"Commander, what I am about to say as nothing to do with Galbadia or Balamb."

("I don't like where this is going...")

"It's about your relationship with my daughter."

Squall had to clench his teeth to prevent his jaw from dropping all the way down to the first floor. Zell, who heard everything, put his fist in his mouth and bit hard while shaking, so that nobody could heard him laugh. Quistis sighed and moved her head exasperated. Selphie was nowhere to be seen, as expected from the one who leaked the news.

"What about it?"

Squall wasn't trying to be defiant or disrespectful. He just didn't know WHAT to say. To make things worst, Laguna put himself in the middle

"C'mon Caraway, they are young and pretty and they are way smarter and wiser than me at their age."

"Words cannot express how much I agree with your words, President Loire. Still, Rinoa is the only family I have."

"You're talking to the guy who saved the world, old man. Cut him some slack, will ya?"

From the look on his face, Squall understood that Caraway did not take being called "old man" lightly so the commander put on a brave front and sacrificed himself. Caraway took a good 30 minutes of Squall's life and kept talking about responsibilities and whatever (after the first two minutes, Squall just nodded silently)

When the punishment ended, it was Laguna's turn and that thought alone was enough to make Squall want to cry.

"Squall...do you remember what I told you that time? That you and I needed to talk once things calmed down? Well, it doesn't get any better than this, so..."

Squall nodded

"Good. Can we do that...I don't know...Right now? (My leg! The pain is killing me!)"

The now hopeless Squall nodded again

"That's great! Now, I don't want to sound weird or anything...can we talk in some place private? Like your room..."

"The garden will do it."

Hell would freeze over twice before Squall could even remotely consider the idea of letting someone like Laguna enter his room.

* * *

Rinoa got rid of her bodyguards quite easily. After all she spent a good portion of her youth evading her father's small army of butlers, maids and soldiers he sent to check on her, so losing two unwilling bodyguards was very, very easy for her. She went straight to the Training Center and waited for a good hour before he showed up.

Member of the CC Club, High Ranking SeeD, able to escape on his own from District-D prison, people only called him "Joker" and he was quite a mistery.

"I hope I didn't make you wait too long" he said with a very bored look on his face.

"Actually, you did."

"I see. I'm sorry. Now, back to business. How can I help you?"

Rinoa gave him a paper and a small bag. Joker took a quick glance of it and asked with a slightly surprised look why she needed that. Smiling, Rinoa reminded him of his "no question asked" policy.

"Touche. Anyway, I'll have to ditch the adamantine, it's too heavy for you and you won't be able to swing properly. I have a old model to work on, but both handle and blade will need changes...two days is the best I can do."

"Two days it is, then. This time, however, don't make me wait."

* * *

Squall went to his room instead of the Garden. He was mentally exhausted, his back was hurting due to a bad sleeping posture and he was smelling. Since Laguna wasn't in a hurry to go back, Squall decided to take a quick shower.

However, something caught his attention.

There was a shining little thing on his desk with a note attached. He was so busy he didn't notice it until now, when he finally had some room to breathe.

The thing was a ring. At first it looked like another Griever Ring, but the design was different: the monster was facing the other side and it had a dragon's head with four wings instead of a lion.

The note was just a short sentence, written in black ink.

 _Let's play again sometimes!_

And a smiley face was used in place of the dot.

In the corner, where the signature is usually written, there were a black "X" and a red "P" written above it.

Phalanx.


	6. Timber

Squall spent an indefinite number of minutes staring at that piece of paper. He didn't know how exactly he was supposed to feel. Somebody dared to enter into his apartment, his very own place, so part of him was feeling somewhat violated.

Another part of him was feeling angry. So angry that he had to force himself to stop his hands from shaking. "Let's play again". That wasn't a game. Raijin was killed, Seifer was missing and Rinoa would probably remember the cold sword on her neck for a long time.

Lastly, a small part of him was actually relieved, but he could not understand why.

Squall couldn't help but to wonder why on earth that guy left him a ring. Aside from the dragon on it, Squall did not find anything special. He tried to wear it on different fingers, he looked it at, took a picture and even borrowed a black light to see if there was something special invisible to the naked eye.

There wasn't. The ring reacted as any soulless piece of metal would.

("Wait. Isn't a guest supposed to give some sort of trivial gift to his host on his first visit?")

So...that guy way either a really polite villain or messing with him.

("Frankly, I'd prefer the latter")

However, Squall was feeling uneasy. He had a weird feeling, like he had seen that ring before. But when? He tried to remember, but nothing came to mind. He was junctioned to three guardian force after all, and the price to access their power is a piece of his own memory. Everything older than three years was foggy if not outright forgotten.

Somebody knocked at the door, and Squall opened. Zell was in front of him, leaning against the jamb

"Yo, Squall! Selphie sent me to tell ya that Laguna is waiting for you."

Squall crossed his arms and sighed. Gfs were not to blame on this one. He forgot because he really didn't want to spent his time with Laguna Loire. However, he agreed to talk with him and so he had to stay true to his word.

"Tell Selphie I'm coming." Squall said, weaving his hand

"Fine. But I'm a SeeD, not a messenger."

Squall looked him in the eyes. As a commander, Squall actually had the authority to send Zell wherever he wanted and, despite what Zell may think, SeeD do convey messages from time to time. However, Zell was a friend and that was not a mission...

("...")

Squall crossed his arms while looking on a stain on the wall on his right

"...please, tell Selphie I'm coming."

Surprised, Zell nodded enthusiastically and left.

* * *

"I suppose you're not going to tell me that the word _leaked_ has some new meaning I'm not aware of."

" 'fraid not, brother. It was a short message and was encrypted, but it basically says that we're gonna do something in Timber on a certain day."

"Just hack the SeeD's account and delete it!"

"Yeah...we did it, but the message had a code and the system flagged it, printing it in paper...we were too late."

The swordsman covered his eyes with his free hand and started to massage his temples. He would have liked to yell but that would have been rude and, even worst, people tend to remember lunatics who yell inside a phone booth.

So, he took a deep breathe instead and insulted them all with a smile on his face.

An old lady was knocking on the glass of the phone booth he was currently using. He turned towards her and smiled while asking her to wait a minute.

"Look, you may be idiots, but we are supposed to be Pro. I'll think of something. Just send me everything you have on those Timber's Beasts guys. Tell me where I can find them...and their next of kin."

the lady was still knocking...

"Alright. You'll get everything in five."

...and knocking...

"Good. See ya."

He hung up the phone and looked at the old lady. Smiling as always, he put several coins in the old machine.

"Sorry Madam. As an apology, Let me pay for your call. I insist."

Then, he just left, wondering how much time the old hag would take to notice that the wire was now broken.

* * *

Selphie was in full Genki mode when Squall reached the Quad. She was trying try to drown Laguna in her neverending sea of words but the old man was keeping her pace just fine. In his Ellone-induced dreams Squall managed to see Laguna in his younger days: he was a man with a bright smile, a man that attacked an Esthar base without backup, a man who would tickle a wounded companion...

Yes, Laguna was a moron. An amazingly capable moron, but a moron nonetheless.

Squall approached the group and Selphie left after saying goodbye. But Squall murmured something to the girl

"Selphie, you're a SeeD and he's a foreign Head of State..."

"Oh, I don't mind – said Laguna, who heard the whisper – It's not like I am the president now, I am just Laguna Loire."

Laguna stopped and moved his head as if he just remembered something

"However, young lady, you should listen to your Commander. There's a reason why formalities exists."

Selphie nodded while Squall waved his hand

("just leave.")

The Commander stood still until the president told him to sit.

"Keep your back straight, Squall. You have a bad posture, it makes you look gloomy."

("...")

"You wanted to talk."

("Please, Note the emphasis on you")

"Yes. First, I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean to undermine your authority."

"No problem. What do you want to talk about?"

Laguna flenched. He rose up, took a few limping steps and sat again.

("That's just sad.")

"D-Do you remember anything about your childhood? Like, the time before the orphanage?"

Squall shook his head

"Ah. Yes. Of Course. Guardian Forces. But a-also, it's been too long? And I guess you were too young anyway...not that you are old right now! I'm old! Well, not that old...maybe I look old to you, because I am older than you...my leg...I can't think...

…

So, your parents..."

"Edea's my matron."

"Yes. Yes. Right. Of course."

And then there was silence. The bad kind of silence. And yet from that moment on, Squall knew exactly what was about to happen. He was young, but he was no idiot. The signs were there.

"I knew your mother."

Squall clenched his teeth and closed his fists.

"She owned a Pub in Winhill. She was a beautiful woman, and she was even a more beautiful human being. Raine took care of me when I ended up wounded, after we escaped from Centra."

("Raine...I met her. In one of those dreams.")

"She died a few days after your birth, or so I have been told. Raine Leonhart. And...and she was my wife. I am your father, Squall."

The last sentence burst out of Laguna's mouth like a cannonball. Laguna itself was both scared and relieved at the same time.

Squall was feeling Laguna's eyes on his neck but he could not muster the will to look at him and kept watching straight in front of him, to an empty point in the garden.

"Since when?"

"Since your conception I guess. Oh, I understand. Er...When you came back from time compression. You needed blood, I was a donor and I asked the doctor to run some tests to be sure. But I knew from the moment I saw you in my office. You have your mother's eyes."

Kiros already told him that.

Squall had a moment of clarity. He had all the pieces. Didn't Selphie told him just how much he resembled Laguna? And the Moombas called him Laguna. He was a moron for not realizing it sooner.

Like father, like son.

So, Moroness is genetic.

"Where were you when she...when I...why..."

Talking wasn't easy. Luckily, Laguna already knew the questions.

"I wasn't there. We got rid of Adel, but Esthar fell into chaos...there was no parliament, no ministers, no nothing. The army tried to seize power, Galbadia sensed their weakness and started its counter attack...I was the hero who defeated the Sorceress AND a Galbadian and I ended up president, to make everyone happy. When I finally managed to go back to Winhill I found nothing.

They still hate my guts over there. They refused to tell me anything. They me hate and they have every reason to...oh, Hyne!"

Laguna sighed loudly, his voice trembling.

"I know how it sounds like. All excuses. Truth is, I failed you and your mother."

Squall knew that, as far as excuses go, stopping a power hungry sorceress while rescuing a child was a pretty good one. And it's not like he was unhappy right now or that he missed something he never had.

The commander moved his mouth, but no sound came out of it. It was dry and his throat was hurting like hell.

"I understand. – he finally said – I do."

"Thanks Squall, I..."

Squall raised his hand to stop him

"Do not misunderstand. I am glad you told me. But nothing's changed. I am still Squall Leonhart, a SeeD. You are a good man, Laguna. Thank you for telling me who my parents are. But..."

Laguna looked somewhat hurt, but nodded.

"It's fine. Just remember that whatever may happen in the future, I will be there for you; I may not be your father yet, but you'll always be my son."

* * *

The Beast's den was a bar called "The Den". It was so on the nose that the swordsman would have liked to turn those idiots into sashimi for that reason only. Still, he went inside and asked to see their leader.

They pretended to know nothing.

He asked again, politely.

"Gentlemen, I understand your concern but we have business to talk about"

A couple of them told him off and suggested, quite rudely, that he should leave the bar.

He asked one last time, with a word of warning, telling them that he wasn't polite because he was weak, but quite the opposite.

"Please, bring him here. You don't want me to get irritated. Bad things tend to happen."

They grabbed him by the shoulders.

He broke their wrist and dislocated their shoulders.

And things went sour. Guns and knives appeared, bottles were thrown.

Ten minutes later the boss, called by a waitress, arrived.

There wasn't much blood on the floor; the phalanx found out that junctioning a couple dozen mid-level fire magic to a bladed weapon would allow to cauterize the cut while slashing, making for very clean cut, so the blood was due to improper marksmanship and friendly fire. Still, the bodies on the floor combined with a lot of severed extremities of many human bodies while a young man was spinning a severed head on top of his index finger to kill time made that room look like the anteroom of hell.

"I'm sorry for the mess, but I came here to negotiate. Sadly, your friends were hostile and things...escalated – the swordsman looked at the waitress – may I have a cola, please?"

Too scared to disobey, the waitress complied and poured the drink in a glass as the swordsman requested. The man took a sip, then looked at the leader of the now decimated Timber's Beast, who was pointing a gun at him. Completely unimpressed, he finished his drink and ordered another one.

"You may want to know that I'm currently under the Haste status, hence the need for sugar. The split second your arm muscles start flexing, I will... – a second cola was poured in his glass – Oh, thanks darling. As I was saying...you know, it doesn't matter. Just drop the bloody gun, you useless waste of proteins."

The man didn't comply and kept his gun pointed at the swordsman's head, but his hand was shaking. The swordsman kept looking at him. And in the end, all he could do was to drop the gun.

"What do you want?"

"I want to make you happy. I'm the fairy godmother...godfather? Whatever... the heavens sent for your mission and I have a gift for you!"

The swordsman put a shining red stone into the man's hands.

"That's a Flare Stone."

The man jumped back scared, and the Stone almost fell out of his hands.

"Careful. You really don't want that stone to hit the ground."

"How...how did you...a flare?!"

With the right training humans have shown to be capable of storing and using paramagic like monsters do. However, a human body has its limits, and they need to junction to use higher tier magic. The only way for unjunctioned human beings to cast such a spell was to use a magic stone, but powerful ones were rare and extremely valuable. Flare Stones were only used by the military and the number of Ultima Stones could be counted on one hand.

"It doesn't matter how. What matters now is that if you do as I say, you'll be the hero you always thought you were."

"And if I don't?"

The man finished his second cola.

"You have a wife and two daughters, age 15 and 10, currently living with your in-laws because you lost custody of them due to your, and I quote from the divorce file, "aggressive behaviour". They have a lovely little farm just outside Dollet, a 20 minutes walk from the the last Train stop which is, in my humble opinion, quite the nice sniping location itself.

Do I need to say more?"

* * *

Two days after his talk with Laguna, Squall and the whole assault squad were on the train to Timber. At first, only Squall and Rinoa were supposed to go, but a strange mail warning the SeeD that an attack would take place arrived and changed their plans.

Squall would have fielded more SeeDs, but Timber couldn't afford to pay them and Galbadia had no reason to spend a single Gil for Timber's safety. Luckily, their contract with the Owls was still in effect so Squall, Zell and Selphie actually had an obligation to be in Timber until its independence, Irvine wasn't technically a SeeD so he was free to do anything he wants and Quistis tagged along pro bono.

Of course, the word "Phalanx" wasn't in the message, but Squall had a feeling that they were in some way involved. A feeling he kept for himself, since there was absolutely no evidence of their involvement and everybody knew that there were a lot of potential threats in Timber already.

But that wasn't the only think on his mind. He kept wondering if he were too hard on Laguna...on his father. Looking back, he really did dismiss the matter...he knew it wasn't Laguna's fault. In the end, things went for the best. But still...

Quistis was reading a book about some forgotten piece of Guardian Force Lore, Rinoa was sleeping with her head leaning on Squall's shoulder and the rest of the team was outside. Quistis closed the book and stared at Squall for a good minute.

"...what?"

"You have been awfully quiet lately."

"I always am."

"More than usual. And that's saying something."

Squall stayed quiet, so Quistis changed strategy.

"As you wish. If you'll ever want to talk about you and Laguna Loire, I'll be there to listen."

The former teacher did nothing to hide her smirk when Squall almost jumped, speechless

"..."

"If you want to talk about it..."

"I really don't."

"Too bad. _There are a lot of walls willing to listen_."

Silence. Awkward silence. Maybe Quistis was still upset at him about the whole "talk to a wall" thing...

"aah...It's a joke, Squall. You are supposed to laugh at it."

"...sorry."

"and you just made it worse – she laughed – oh, whatever. Anyway, I'll say one thing: there are people who would do anything to know, just know, who their parents are."

Fortunately, Zell came in before Squall could react. He joked about Rinoa and Squall being so close together until Quistis asked Zell of his own relation with the Library Girl with a ponytail, something that embarassed Zell enough to make him talk about Irvine and Selphie instead while the speaker announced that Timber was the next stop.

"Where are they, by the way?"

"Selphie's just out there singing a faster version of Train-Train. Irvine took a guitar from a bunch of hyppies and is playing it. Oh, he also does that thing were you sing together, but not really in unison..."

"Countermelody."

"That's it, thanks Quis! I think Selphie introduced a Rap in the middle, but I'm not really sure."

Squall frowned and sighed. As SeeD they were expected to act professional and to keep their best behavior when in public, so Selphie should be demoted by a rank at the very least.

"Let it go, Squall – Quistis said – There aren't that many people in the first place, and it's not like she's wearing her uniform. Let her act her age...well, minus a decade or so."

"Yeah...Squall I was wondering..."

("Nothing good could ever come from that...")

"How come we never act our age? Like, do things teenagers do? What do teenagers do nowadays, by the way? Karaoke? Yeah, let's do this."

("Indeed.")

"That's actually a wonderful idea – said Selphie, who had just entered the cabin – let's go to Karaoke to celebrate Timber's Freedom!"

And of course, she just had to came back at that moment.

"I don't sing."

"Oh, I'm sure you have a wonderful voice."

And again, of course Rinoa just had to be awake. Things were going downhill pretty fast.

"Then, it's decided! Squall and Rin, Irvine and Selphie, I will bring Dania..."

"Who's Dania? Is she your girlfriend?!"

"No, she isn't..."

"Yet."

"Shut up, Irvine. I'd like to introduce her to you guys. And Quis..."

"Quistis will have no problem finding herself a date. And neither will I...iamjokingSelphie" said Irvine once he realized that Selphie's foot was ready to casually drop on his shin.

The train slowed down and then stopped. They got their baggage and left, finally coming back to Timber. The city changed drastically since they left, it was filled with happiness and excitement: flags, garlands, confetti were everywhere and big flat screen had been installed so that everyone could see the ceremony. The Streets were full of people celebrating their independence by drinking loudly, singing Timber's Anthem or just yelling insults at the few galbadians still present.

"Oh, the forests of Timber sure have changed!" said a familiar voice

"But the owls are still around!" Rinoa replied "WATTS! ZONE!"

The Owls celebrated their long awaited reunion with a group hug, squeeling and jumps. Some may had considering it heartwarming, but Squall thought it was more on the annoying side. A man bumped into Zell and quickly apologized.

"We'd better start moving, or we'll be late."

"Aye, aye commander" said Rinoa

"Oh, he's a commander now?" asked Watts

"I'll tell you everything later. We're staying at the hotel, let's meet there later!"

Squall sighed and covered his face.

(Is it weird that I'd rather meet the Phalanx again?)

* * *

The man that bumped into Zell apologized because it was the polite thing to do, despite the fact that the SeeD was in the middle of the road and literally in the way. However, it was not a fight worth fighting so he just went towards the nearest phone cabin.

"SeeD confirmed. 4 of them, plus Sorceress and Sniper."

"Well, it could have been worst. We can handle that much, it's exactly what we were expecting."

"let's get ready. Out."

* * *

Giving order to Galbadian Soldiers after spending the last two months slashing them on sight gave Squall quite the weird feeling. They were Caraway's personal guard, the former Presidential Guard, quick on their feet and with yellow bands around the right arm, sent to work with the SeeD to ensure Caraway's safety. This time, Squall dodged the president and sent Quistis to deal with him while Rinoa met with the Owls in the Hotel's bar. He offered to keep her company but the girl took pity on him and went alone; the young man was less moody and more willing to open up to the world outside, but Rinoa knew that exposing him to Watts and Zone would probably backfire.

To make things worse, Commander Leonhart had been invited by both Caraway and the Timber's council to stand on the stage and, since said invitation came from both sides involved, he was trapped. So, when the time finally came, he put on his SeeD uniform since there was no way for him to stay incognito anyway.

"Man, looking good. Rinoa is going to be very pleased by how her boyfriend looks. I mean, look at Zell, It doesn't even look like the same uniform."

"Oh, you're one to talk, always dressed like a cowboy..."

"At least this cowboy spills his ketchup on his food and not on his clothes"

"WHAT? WHERE?"

Guys and Girls had two separate room in the Hotel. It was President Caraway's idea, despite the fact that SeeD of both gender sleep together all the time to save money during missions, probably because he wasn't really comfortable with the idea of having his daughter and her boyfriend in the same room.

"Bah...anyway, Squall...I know you're not the kind of guy who would do something...I mean we are on a mission...is it a mission though?"

Zell continued to mumble for a while, scratching his head with his hand in the process until Irvine just told Squall to give them a warning if he wanted to do something later.

"Something?" asked Squall

"You know...something-something. Don't make me say it, I'm a gentleman."

"A gentleman would have warned me. I still have nightmares." said a bitter Zell

"And a good boy would have knocked."

"We are on official business. Nobody will do any kind of something tonight, did I make myself clear?"

"You don't get it Squall. I have seen things."

"You'll get it once you'll reach puberty."

"Damn pervert."

"I'll tell you guys once more. Shut up. No something. No more talking about it...never."

("Note to self: knock when at Irvine's door.")

("Now that I think about it...where does he sleep in the Garden?")

That was a good question. But did he want to know the answer?

No. Absolutely no.

Squall double checked his gunblade and told Zell and Irvine where the two were supposed to stand during the whole ceremony. Then, they waited for the girls who came earlier than anticipated ( a mere twenty minutes after the appointed time).

"Sorry Sorry Sorry...my fault!"

Rinoa was wearing her white dress, the one she wore the night of SeeD exam. She was beautiful.

"You are...you look...you..."

"I believe Squall wants to say how beautiful you are, Rin."

Rinoa ignored Irvine and winked at Squall

"You too, Squall."

She took her knight's arm and lead the way.

Reaching City Hall took more time than needed because they often backtracked and moved in circle to ensure that nobody was tailing they finally arrived they found even more people than expected and a lot less soldiers than promised, mostly galbadians.

"That's no good" said Irvine "I doubt they will care for Timber's citizens should anything happen."

"There are too many gaps in the perimeter." replied Zell "I can already spot a couple of blind points."

Too many photographers and journalists, not enough men to check them all and most of them were just permitted to pass anyway because the soldier could not afford hold the line any longer.

Quistis took control of the soldiers outside, moving them to cover the whole perimeter instead of a side of it while Squall took care of the security inside the building, which was much better than expected: most door were closed and secured, there was no way for anybody to reach the stage by anything different than a front assault and, given the space between the stage and the first row, that would have given the defenders plenty of time to react. Irvine moved to an elevated position to have a better view of the crowd.

It took half an hour to fill the hall and only when everyone was seated Caraway made his entrance and started his speech.

"Citizens of Timber. For too long there was nothing but hate between Timber and Galbadia. For too long we lost some of the best men of women of their generations to a meaningless war. That was only one of Vincent Deling's vile actions."

("Wasn't Caraway the General who ordered to take Timber?")

"But Deling died. And it's time for Galbadia to turn a new leaf."

"you hypocrite..." whispered Rinoa, who was standing near Squall on the stage.

"And today is the day. Today's the day Timber..."

"YOU BASTARD!"

Squall only had a moment to act. He tackled down both Rinoa and his father, shielding them with his body just a second before a magical explosion took place.

His ears were ringing and he wasn't able to figure out what happened. Explosion spell are usually centered on a target or but this one was different, like many different flaming arms going in different direction, burning and destroying everything in their path, including the one who cast the spell.

Squall tried to tell Rinoa and Caraway to go away, but he couldn't hear himself talking; Rinoa put her hands on his head and whispered something while a wave of greenish light surrounded the two. When it ended, Squall recovered his earing and his body felt much lighter

"This is just a temporary patch, Squall! Don't overdo it!"

"Bring your father to safety! I'll support Irvine and Zell."

Rinoa refused to let Squall go until he allowed her to summon a protect shield on him: he was tough and junctioned, but there were guns shooting and he was still a melee fighter.

The protect shield proved itself useful by deflecting a stray bullet and Squall dived into the fight, slashing two shooters who were aiming at Zell.

Whoever they were, they weren't pro: Squall noticed the random fighting pattern, the amateurish tactics and the use of way more bullet then necessary. With Irvine behind him and Zell by his side, the Commander managed to get rid of most attackers in a matter of seconds; easy enough to be alarming.

Zell and Irvine were fighting with him. Selphie and Quistis were on rescue duty.

Caraway was alone with Rinoa.

He knew immediately what was about to happen.

He ran backstage, using one of his precious haste spell to move faster and arrived just in time to deflect the sword of a galbadian soldiers aimed at Caraway's neck.

Squall countered with a powerful thrust and the soldier evaded by taking a big step back.

"Commander Leonhart! So nice to see you. It's your offer to duel me still standing?"

Squall immediately recognized the voice and used an Aura spell on himself. Without a word, he raised his gunblade over his head.

"Our talks are nice, Commander."

The swordsman charged straight at Squall who lowered his weapon, unleashing a beam of energy that took the opponent by surprise

"BLASTING ZONE!"

A smaller, medium range version of the original technique to be used in close combat, just good enough to deal with a single opponent.

For a second, a split second, Squall thought he had it.

But it was just a fleeting moment.

A second later, Squall wholeheartily thanked Rinoa for her Protect spell when a sword hit him right in the stomach with enough strength to send him near the wall. The phalanx used only the side of his blade, but only Rinoa's spell allowed Squall to survive the hit. And now the protect shield was shattered.

His opponent wasn't doing much better, since he could not avoid the whole blast. His left shoulder was scorched and a good portion of his upper body was now exposed, showing several cuts and a moderate bleed loss that forced him to use a cure spell.

"Man, Galbadian armor sure is pitiful, isn't it?"

The two men started circling around each other

"Haven't you ever been in a duel before, Commander? You're not supposed to go all out in the early stages, you work your way up to it."

"Sounds like a feeble excuse."

The phalanx stopped and laughed.

"Alright. All out it is."

The phalanx dropped his broken galbadian sword and unsheathed his own. He jumped upon Squall and the strike was strong enough to hurt the SeeD's shoulder despite the parry and followed with a series of slashes, a razor sharp dance that forced the SeeD to fall back. But Squall countered with a powerful triggered downward strike, too strong to be blocked with one sword and so the Phalanx had to stop it with both his weapons. Squall took advantage of it by kicking him in the stomach repeatedly to which the phalanx replied with an headbutt and an elbow strike to the face. Squall took a step back, narrowing avoiding a thrust, but failed to parry the followup, an upward slash that grazed his shoulder. The phalanx kept attacking, quick slashed coming from every direction, not really dangerous per se, but enough to prevent Squall from building the necessary momentum to swing his heavier weapon. In the end, Squall allowed himself to be hit only to grab one of his swords by the blade.

A moment was all he needed to focus his energy on his Gunblade.

The first strike of his Renzokuken sent the phalanx flying and Squall jumped, ready to strike again.

He couldn't believe when the Phalanx countered his Renzokuken hit after hit.

"ROUGH DIVIDE!"

"COUNTER DIVIDE!"

The Phalanx had the perfect answer to the Rough Divide. The weapons clashed unleashing a stream of purplish energy that momentarily blinded both fighters. Squall was the first to recover his sight, but the Phalanx was quicker, and his weapon was much lighter and faster than the Lionheart.

A second faster.

Too fast.

When Squall realized what happened, there was blood all around him.

Initially, he felt no pain. His head was spinning and everything around him looked like it was covered by a thin white mist; annoying, but nothing new.

Then, a sharp pain in his side was the first alarm. He managed to recover enough focus to see clearly again and noticed that a huge chunk of metal had pierced his side. A sword.

("Did he...threw...")

Unable to think, Squall tried to stand up but fell on his knees, drooling and spitting blood. The phalanx's sword had lost his edge due to the repeated clashes between it and the Lionheart, which prevented it from piercing through Squall but at the same time made the wound much worse.

Squall bit his lip bloody and used his weapon as stick to stand up again, but he he was unable to stand straight.

Bent, he wondered why the Phalanx had not attacked yet and finally looked at him, noticing a long cut that went from the swordsman's abdomen to his shoulders. During their last exchange, Squall must have swung and it.

The Phalanx was now beating his clenched left fist on this wound, swallowing suffocated screams of pain and breathing heavily from his nose, cauterizing the wound in the process to stop his blood loss.

It was at this point that Rinoa joined the fight.

To the swordsman's surprise, she charged the phalanx right on, forcing him to use his second blade to parry despite it being still in the scabbard.

To Squall's surprise, she was using a Gunblade. The blade was close to that of the Revolver, but the firing mechanism was closer to a rifle.

"Are you sure about that? Do you even know how to use it?"

"Pretty sure, yes"

The trigger timing was totally off, but the fresh Rinoa was more than a match for the weakened phalanx. With her speed and strenght enhanced by magic, she was keeping him at bay. Somehow she was mimicking Squall's style quite well.

("Too well")

Still, the Phalanx was quickly adapting to her and the difference in their skill was becoming more and more apparent, which forced Squall to engage the enemy once again. Forced two defend against two opponents, the Phalanx made the mistake of focusing more on Squall, apparently the biggest threat to his eyes, than Rinoa, which allowed her to strike him in the head, breaking the galbadian helmet that was covering his face. For some reason, Rinoa seemed surprised.

"You look familiar..."

This moment allowed the swordsman to jump back and crouch, focusing his strength on his grip. Squall dashed in, but a shadow from behind was much faster and forced the Phalanx to stop whatever special move he was about to use.

"We got your back, guys!"

Zell and Irvine came, offering their support in the fight.

The Phalanx looked at them and covered his front with his palm.

"You gave her Griever, I see. Didn't think you were so serious already. Then again, given how things are...anyway, we'll have to call it a draw."

"Why do you know about Griever? Who are you?!"

"A good question. For another time.

Exit stage up!"

Flashbang and smoke grenades were dropped from high above, blinding the SeeDs. When they were able to see again, the Phalanx was gone. Squall fell down and Rinoa yelled to everyone who could hear her to call the med squad.

Zell and Irvine themselves were far from unscathed and looked relieved rather than bothered by the fact that the Phalanx had retreated.

"Squall, you cannot believe it. They were, like, crazy prepared. Even when I summoned Ifrit it was like they knew about it already..."

"I am almost out of ammo. And ammo is one of two things I am never out of."

"Guys! Not now! Squall needs medical care!"

("No..not yet")

Squall grabber her forearm. He was too weakened to even talk, but his message was clear.

"Quistis is chasing them with Galbadian Support. Selphie is coordinating the med squads" said Irvine who then turned and screamed as loudly as possible "SELPH! SELPH! BRING SOMEONE HERE ASAP!"

"Caraway?"

"Oh, he's fine. Ran away like a kyactus."

Despite her words, Rinoa was clearly relieved that her father was unarmed.

"Losses?"

"Squall, my man, you have a piece of metal sticking out of you, you can hold off on the report for a while."

"Irvine. How many."

"The security was wiped out. And I never knew that the Dolphin Blow could be countered with a well timed wrist throw."

"The real mess started when people got out of here. They had some nasty shooters and attacked from all direction, so people panicked and many ended up trampled to death. Timber's army can no longer be called an army, we lost three candidates to Timber's leadership and the Galbadian Garrison took massive losses. I can't give you a number, but it won't be pretty...

Before you start your self-deprecating, however, consider that we saved a lot of lives and things would have been much worse, had we not been around."

Squall nodded and noticed that paramedics were on their way to cure him, lead by Selphie. As the brunette started yelling "CURAGA", he finally decided that he could allow himself to pass out for a bit.

* * *

The former instructor was leading a group of Galbadian Soldier in the chase. From what she saw, there were actually very few expert fighters involved, six to eight at most, and most of the killing was actually done by a terrorist group named "Beasts", who used human shield against bullets but the Galbadian didn't seem to care about it. The "experts", most likely members of the Phalanx, acted like surgeon knives amid the bloodshed. She noticed that some of people killed were actually killed very cleanly, with a single well placed lethal hit hidden amongst random wounds.

One Phalanx however wasn't quick enough to disappear and Quistis was chasing him. He was riding a stolen bike and was quite good at it. One of the cars after him managed to get on his side, but he stopped his bike all of a sudden and used a spear to slash both tires on the right side; the car lost control and ended up crashing against a tree in a nearby forest.

Then he turned around and charged headlong against them, throwing his spear against her. She dodged, but the driver of the car behind her wasn't as lucky: the spear flew through the air leaving behind a blue wave and ended his path on a tree. He recovered his weapon and yelled triumphantly as the car he just hit crashed too.

Quistis's and another car were still behind him, but the Galbadians were now to scared to approach him again and his lead on Quistis was far too large for her to cover.

She followed him to the beach were he left the bike on the sand for a new, and better vehicle.

Everything was lost now. He would take fly and leave.

However, as soon as the phalanx opened the cockpit, a fireball hit him in chest, sending him flying a few feet away; he rolled in the sand and recovered quickly, taking a feline stance.

"Do you NEVER die?!"

A blond man in a yellow coat appeared.

"Nope. Ask any SeeD, Hyne knows they tried. Four times, actually."

"I knew you had to be put down that night. Brother is just too soft with his no unnecessary kills policy."

The time Seifer bought allowed the remained cars to reach the place and surrounded the Phalanx, aiming their guns at him. He removed his mask and started to draw runes in the sand.

"Freeze or we'll open fire!"

"Feel free to!"

The Phalanx's magic summoned a strong whirlwind that created a wall of sand, thick enough to hide the Phalanx and Seifer.

Despite Quistis protests, the Galbadian started shooting blindly, hoping to hit something. As she found out, they didn't really care about Seifer well-being.

The phalanx attacked Seifer, but his weapon pierced nothing but sand. Seifer stepped on it to hold it some more and slashed wildly, but missed. Unable to use the firing system, irredeemably damaged by the sea, the Hyperion was just a sword with a very unpractical grip. The spear was a Jumonji Yari, basically a piercing spear with a couple of curved side blade around the central lance, which makes it perfect for parrying, something that Seifer discovered when his attack was blocked and spear redirected the blade on the sand before a thrust that went through Seifer's coat, scratching his legs in the process.

"You are a failure! You failed as a SeeD! You failed as a knight! You even failed your friend!"

That was too much for Seifer. He casted another fire spell that caught the Phalanx off guard and closed the gap between them while raising his Gunblade high over his head...

"Thundaga."

The spear was pointed right on Seifer's chest.

A perfect hit.

Seifer fell down, with sand mixed with saliva in his mouth and shivering uncontrollably as a side effect of the thunder spell. Unable to stand, he saw the Phalanx standing over him.

"RAY BOMB!"

The blue spell swept across the battlefield, forcing the Phalanx to retreat. Quistis kept on the offensive, using her whip to entangle the spearman's wrist, preventing him from using his weapon. Surprised, the phalanx turned around to see that his sand wall has been dispelled and galbadian's guns pointing at him. He barely had time to realize what was going on when they shoot him multiple times.

His body armor, however, wasn't just for show.

He spun his weapon over his head repeatedly, focusing his chi not unlike Seifer, until he created a visible circle of energy.

When he stopped, that energy was released in the form of a Kamakaze, a cutting wind. Seifer tackled Quistis, but the Galbadians around weren't as fast as him and fell victims to the scything wind.

"What would you do without me, eh teach'?

"He's running away!"

Running wasn't the right word. The Phalanx was badly wounded and unable to move fast, stumbling towards his getaway vehicle.

Using what energy he had left, Seifer jumped in the air, once again focusing his energy on his gunblade and releasing it in the shape of a cross. At the same time, Quistis surrounded him with her Shockwave Pulsar.

The explosion of the two techniques combined was enough to send both Seifer and Quistis on the ground. Shards of glass pierced their skin, dealing some superficial wounds but nothing worst.

The phalanx, on the other hand, was lying on the ground motionless, completely broken.

Still, he was laughing.

"What? What now?"

"He's just happy he's going to meet his pals. I left a little present on their boat."

The phalanx laughed so hard he almost choke on his blood.

"That was...much...appreciated...put it...to good use..."

Seifer panicked. He grabbed the man by the neck, but he died before he could answer.

And then, far away, from Timber, came the unmistakable sound of a violent explosion.


End file.
